House Speaker Kevin McCarthy did what he needed to do to avert a pointless government shutdown over the weekend. But he and everyone else on Capitol Hill knew he would pay a very high price, and he did.
McCarthy was removed as speaker Tuesday and the House was left leaderless by a margin of six votes, 216 to 210. Nobody is in charge. Another shutdown is looming just before Thanksgiving.
The architect of these theatrics was Rep. Matt Gaetz, a media-obsessed Republican from the Florida Panhandle who’s now a pariah among many fellow Republicans. Days after McCarthy made a deal with Democrats to pass a continuing budget resolution, Gaetz and seven GOP members struck the same strange-bedfellows bargain, removing McCarthy after nine months as speaker — the first revolt of its kind in 113 years (the last one failed).
ItWell, score one for bipartisanship, we suppose.
From Democrats to destruction
To win the speakership last January after 15 rounds of balloting, McCarthy sold his soul and made concessions to Gaetz and others on the far-right fringe. Nobody but the parties involved knows exactly what was in that agreement but it did include a rule allowing any member to make a motion to vacate the speaker’s office. Gaetz used it to topple McCarthy Tuesday.
His capitulation made McCarthy speaker in name only. He partially redeemed himself and the speaker’s office by agreeing to a continuing budget resolution that could pass only with Democratic support.
But he did not consult Democrats on what should be in it. That neglect, and his decision to order an utterly unfounded impeachment investigation of President Joe Biden, cost him when Democratic leaders supported the motion to remove him.
McCarthy was a terribly flawed leader, to be sure, but he was better for the country than Gaetz, who may be thinking now that he is the de facto speaker of the House.
Shutting Gaetz down
What the House needs to do first is to shut down Gaetz. He’s as reckless as Joe McCarthy, the Red-baiting demagogue from Wisconsin censured by the Senate in 1954.
There was jubilation at the Kremlin, to be sure, when Kevin McCarthy left a Ukraine aid package out of the continuing resolution. It must be made clear to both Gaetz and Vladimir Putin that the decision was only tactical and temporary, as Biden and responsible members of both parties in Congress have promised.
McCarthy had overwhelming support among his Republican colleagues (other than Gaetz, every other Florida Republican in the chamber supported him). Gaetz owes his victory to the Democrats, who should not expect him to be grateful.
Gaetz appeared to be hoping, actually, that the Democrats would save McCarthy so that he could accuse him of being “their” speaker. But the entire process has been more about his preening before the cameras than anything else. It was noteworthy how he hogged the anti-McCarthy side of the debate Tuesday, from a lectern on the Democratic side of the floor because the Republicans refused to let him use theirs.
The House Ethics Committee should persist in its investigation of Gaetz that began when the Democrats were in control. There were signs a few months ago that the committee may be looking seriously into allegations that include sexual misconduct and drug use. A similar Justice Department investigation ended without charges, in part, apparently, because it would have had to rely on the testimony of his imprisoned friend, former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg.
But it doesn’t require a criminal conviction to find that a member of Congress deserves censure or expulsion. In a House teetering on the edge of anarchy, Gaetz could soon find himself the target of his Republican colleagues.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.
The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson, Opinion Editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writer Martin Dyckman and Anderson. Send letters to insight@orlandosentinel.com.
