For the first time in American history, a sitting Speaker has been removed.
Eight Republicans joined all of the Democrats to make Kevin McCarthy the former Speaker of the House. It has never happened before, but it leaves a huge question mark of what happens next.
Now that a small group of grassroots Republicans have succeeded in dethroning the Republican Speaker—where do they go from here? And where are we headed as a country?
First, let me say a couple of things:
The eight Republicans voting to remove McCarthy were right—we have an unsustainable financial path, and we have had massive increases in debt that will, at some point, shatter this nation with a debt crisis. I have heard my entire life that the people in Congress would cut spending and keep things under control—and yet—the debt and deficit continue to soar to heights never imagined. They continue to spend money they don’t have and borrow to give it away day after day and year after year.
Other complaints were focused on the raging border crisis, huge amounts of money to Ukraine to support the American proxy war with Russia, and the attacks here at home on energy in this country.
For now, North Carolina Congressman Patrick McHenry will step in as the acting Speaker until a new person takes the gavel for the rest of the 118th Congress—but nobody seems to know who that is.
Political insiders are telling me not to be surprised if Kevin McCarthy is back in the race for Speaker—and just how strange would that be? But this is Washington, after all, and the stranger it gets, the more normal it sometimes feels.
So, how did McHenry get here? Well, he was on a secret list that was required for McCarthy to provide for possible successors in the event he could not complete his tenure in the job, which is exactly what happened today.
Democrats, in the meantime, are celebrating the ouster of McCarthy—not because they really care one way or another but because it inflicts damage and embarrassment on the GOP.
It does both of those things because it looks like the Republicans cannot govern—we still have Nancy Pelosi’s budget, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change.
As for Gaetz and his Gang of Eight rebels—I am not sure this will solve the problems they have been outlining because the clock is running on another debt ceiling deadline, and I’m not sure they can get that solved by then. With no Speaker, it seems to make the mountain that much higher to climb—and it reminds me of a couple of sayings—be careful what you wish for, and be careful when you trade the Devil you know for the Devil you don’t.
Will this be for the better or worse for Republicans, the House, and the country? Well, the truth is nobody can say—because we simply don’t know yet.
But I can tell you this: it is still possible for the underdog to take out Goliath—in this case, the establishment political class—and they can do it with a small group of determined people.
I also have a warning for Democrats—don’t celebrate too much because people are so disenchanted with Joe Biden and the whole Bidenomics scam that they are willing to vote for tree stumps with an R next to their names to root out the socialists in our government.
And right now, the leading candidate for President continues to be the former President Donald Trump.
And here is something that you should be clear on when it comes to the former President—he has been a fairly consistent supporter of Kevin McCarthy. He supported him after the 2022 midterms in his quest for Speaker. He openly supported him in January to be Speaker, and yesterday, on Truth Social, he appeared to be supporting him again when he posted this:
“Why is it that Republicans are always fighting among themselves? Why aren’t they fighting the Radical Left Democrats who are destroying our Country?”
So far, I have not seen an official statement from Trump—but I will keep you posted.