House Republicans are furious at House Democrats for not saving Kevin McCarthy’s speakership. Sure, they’re also furious at Rep. Matt Gaetz, who led the effort to oust McCarthy, but mostly, they’re falling back on blaming Democrats for everything that goes wrong for them. Senate Republicans, on the other hand, are pointing a finger straight at the House Republican vandal caucus and at the party’s broader dysfunction in the House.
“These insurgents have no plan and now they’ve created even more chaos and it’s not good for the House, it’s not good for Republicans and they have no clear path forward,” Sen. John Cornyn told The Hill.
According to Sen. Roger Wicker, the situation “stinks, and it’s not good for the country.”
“It’s chaos for the sake of a couple of people who honestly are built to be in the minority. Matt Gaetz and a few others, they’re built to be in the minority,” Sen. Kevin Cramer told HuffPost. “The minority is a very easy place to raise havoc, to get people to support you because you don’t have any real governing responsibility.”
House Republicans “simply haven’t figured out a mature way to recognize that you’re not going to get everything done immediately, it takes time,” Sen. Mike Rounds said. “And the perfect should not be the limitation to getting something good done. Unfortunately, a lot of the folks over there want to be perfect, or not at all.”
Senate Republicans aren’t giving the whole picture, of course. They’re not talking about what a historically weak leader McCarthy was. They’re not talking very much about how dysfunctional the House Republican Conference has been for years, although Cornyn did mention the fates of former Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan, both of whom left rather than continue trying to manage it. “We saw a similar thing happen to [former GOP House Speaker John] Boehner, [Paul] Ryan, and now McCarthy. I’m sure the next speaker is going to be subjected to the same terrorist attacks,” he told HuffPost.
Cramer nodded vaguely at that history, telling HuffPost the only reason someone would become speaker is “because they hate themselves.” He added, “The only reason you do it is you think you can make a difference, that you can bridge the great divides. Kudos to whoever thinks that and wants to try it.”
Congratulations, House Republicans. Your fellow Republicans who work in a chamber with Sens. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul are astonished and horrified at what a mess you are. And no matter how much you try to blame Democrats for your predicament, Senate Republicans, like everyone else, are looking right at you.
Sign if you agree: So long, Kevin!