Republicans may win back the House majority, but they don’t deserve it

In 1776, John Adams wrote a letter to his wife, Abigail, quoting the play Cato by Joseph Addison, writing: “The Events of War are uncertain: We cannot insure Success, but We can deserve it.” Surely, the future president had not met the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, and House Republicans, otherwise he would have learned that the opposite is true. Most political prognosticators, myself included, believe that the Democrats will lose their majorities in the House and the Senate this November.

The slew of retirements show they neither want to lose their seats or go back to being in the minority. Similarly, the generic ballot shows that voters slightly favour Republican control of Congress as opposed to Democratic control, given Joe Biden’s dismal ratings. But all of this is more of an indictment of Democratic malfeasance than a vote of confidence in the GOP.

The latest example of Republican behaviour came during the State of the Union address this week, when the right-wing extremist Rep Lauren Boebertheckled the president when he was talking about burn pits and how his late son Beau’s fatal cancer might have been caused by them. Similarly, Boebert’s right-wing-woman Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene joined her in heckling “Build the wall!” when Biden mentioned fixing the nation’s immigration system. It was a spectacle that was more fitting for parents yelling on the sidelines during their six-year-old’s soccer game than it was during an address to Congress.

This comes days after Greene and Rep Paul Gosar, a sentient 4Chan post with a Congressional lapel pin, spoke at a far-right, antisemitic convention with the white nationalist Nick Fuentes. Similarly, Boebert has made noxious comments about the Muslim representative Ilhan Omar, implying she was a terrorist.

But McCarthy, who is so craven in his desire to be Speaker and has cosied up to the right-wing flank of the GOP in his quest to get the gavel, has not taken action to reprimand his most despicable members. He denounced Greene and Gosar and told reporters “there is no place in our party for this”; he has also said in the past that both of those members would get their committee assignments back under a GOP majority. Mind you, this comes as McCarthy has done all he can to neutralise Rep Liz Cheney for the crime of criticising the Republican Party for allowing Donald Trump to spread the big lie about the election being stolen.

The fact he has yet to give these members any hard punishments – particularly given that he punished the former Rep Steve King for his racist remarks – further indicates he knows they are wrong but has abdicated leadership. As a result, he tacitly gives his imprimatur to the racist and coarse bile his worst members spew. The GOP’s ascension to the majority is certainly ensured by this point, and if he allows the worst members of his caucus to move uninhibited, his impotence as a Speaker will surely be deserved.

We’ll keep reporting on that chaos in conservatism from Washington.

Yours,

Eric Garcia

Senior Washington DC correspondent