Welcome to Washington: The Last of ‘The Young Guns’ Departs the House

Kevin McCarthy, following his embarrassing fall to the backbenches from being 55th Speaker of the House, will resign from Congress at the end of the year. His short tenure as speaker, his lack of substantive accomplishment due to his right flank and divided government, and his desire to walk away marks a historic win for the worst elements of Congress. The nine-term congressman is the last of the famous “Young Guns” to fall at the hands of the right wing of the House Republican conference. Mr. McCarthy, along with Speaker Ryan, and a one-time House majority leader, Congressman Eric Cantor, were — with their telegenic style, youthful energy, and fresh ideas — once heralded as the future of the Grand Old Party. Mr. McCarthy will leave with his tail between his legs. Mr. Ryan quit politics altogether after getting his historic tax cut. Mr. Cantor lost a GOP primary challenge in June 2014 and resigned just weeks later. The ousted speaker announced today that he would be leaving Washington.“It is time to pursue my passion in a new arena,” Mr. McCarthy said in a video announcing his resignation. “We were willing to risk it all — no matter the odds, no matter the personal cost. Simply put: we did the right thing.” It’s nice rhetoric until one realizes that doing “the right thing” was simply not letting the government shut down, the career-ending sin Mr. McCarthy had to commit. After a three-week search to find Mr. McCarthy’s replacement, the House GOP settled on a fiercely conservative legislator, Speaker Johnson, after nominating three other men to lead the chamber. Just weeks into his tenure, Mr. Johnson is already facing the same problems as Mr. McCarthy. Because while Mr. Johnson’s tactics and personal politics may be different from those of his predecessor, the problem is the Republican conference itself. Congressman Matt Gaetz, the man most responsible for Mr. McCarthy’s imminent return to Bakersfield, previously told the Sun that Mr. Johnson would be allowed to pass a bill to keep the government open even though he would not allow Mr. McCarthy the same kind of leeway. “It’s like when you get a new football coach midseason,” the Florida congressman said of Mr. Johnson’s continuing resolution. “Sometimes, you’ve gotta use the old guy’s playbook for a while.”The problem for the House GOP can be summed up by the word’s of Congressman Chip Roy, who is one of the only people honest enough in the nation’s capital to forego the talking points and tell us what is really going on. “I want my Republican colleagues to give me one thing — one — that I can go campaign on and say we did,” Mr. Roy bellowed on the House floor just before Thanksgiving. “Anybody sitting in the complex, if you want to come down to the floor and come explain to me one meaningful, significant thing the Republican majority has done besides, ‘Well, I guess it’s not as bad as the Democrats.’”Yet for doing nothing more than trying to work with his right wing and being rebuffed at every turn, Mr. McCarthy may be the most punished Congressional leader in modern history. Sure, Mr. Ryan couldn’t get his healthcare reform bill through the House, and Mr. Cantor was rejected by voters at his own district, but Mr. McCarthy’s rapid fall from grace was precipitated by personality contests like no other leader faced. Speaker Pelosi was never accused of jabbing Congresswoman Alexandira Ocasio-Cortez in the kidney. Speaker Gingrich didn’t have to sit through 15 humiliating rounds of floor votes just because people didn’t like him. Until Mr. McCarthy, no speaker had ever been removed from the position simply because he tried to keep the lights on.“Giving my best to all of you has been my greatest honor,” the former speaker said in his farewell video. If his tenure was the best of what the pro-functioning government wing of the Republican Party has to offer, then we should all be prepared for more shutdowns and motions to vacate the chair.

Welcome to Washington: The Last of ‘The Young Guns’ Departs the House

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