Morning Roundup: "The House GOP's Historic Implosion"
Another day, another dose of deep Republican divisions. Take a look at today’s headlines detailing the “paralysis,” “chaos,” and “disarray” that is the GOP:
USA Today Editorial: Chaos in the House
“Whether this is bad for the Republican Party isn’t our concern, but in the free advice department, we’d say being pushed into paralysis by a tiny but vocal minority isn’t doing the GOP brand any favors. More important, the dysfunction and extremism that increasingly define the House are bad for the country.”
Washington Post Editorial: After McCarthy, the GOP must sideline the Freedom Caucus
“Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) threw the House into chaos Thursday by announcing that he would not seek to become speaker, leaving the GOP caucus without a clear leader and deepening worries that Congress will be incapable of performing basic functions... Even before the leadership crisis, the House had failed to face facts on the budget, the debt ceiling, immigration and many other issues. Now dysfunction could produce outcomes that would seriously harm the nation and the world, starting with default and shutdown.”
Wall Street Journal Editorial: The Republican Crack-Up
“The rebels don’t have nearly enough support to stand up their own man, but they can blow up all House business and decapitate the leadership of their own party. The danger is that having deposed Mr. Boehner and now Mr. McCarthy, they will refuse to back anyone who won’t meet their demands.”
New York Times: McCarthy Withdraws From Speaker’s Race, Putting House in Chaos
“Representative Kevin McCarthy of California abruptly withdrew on Thursday from the race to succeed Speaker John A. Boehner, blindsiding his House Republican colleagues and throwing their already tumultuous chamber into deeper chaos with no clear leader in sight just weeks before a series of high-stakes fiscal battles.”
Politico: The House GOP's historic implosion
“House Republicans are in an historic state of chaos, torn between two ideological poles with no clear sense of who will serve as their next leader, and no idea of their governing agenda with several legislative battles in the coming weeks.”
Washington Post: The GOP sinks deeper into chaos. Can it still function as a party?
“…Republicans are on the verge of ceasing to function as a national political party. The most powerful and crippling force at work in the once-hierarchical GOP is anger, directed as much at its own leaders as anywhere else.”
NBC News: House Chaos: Why the Republicans Can't Choose a Speaker
“House Republicans are again looking divided and in disarray, having forced out their sitting speaker, then watched the man who was expected to replace him suddenly pull out of the running for the job on Thursday. The resignation of House Speaker John Boehner two weeks ago and California Rep. Kevin McCarthy's inability to become his successor fits the broader pattern of a Republican Party constantly divided between its establishment and Tea Party wings and frequently in self-inflicted political messes.”
CNN: Inside the GOP's House of cards
“This account of one of the most dramatic days in the recent history of the House is based on interviews with dozens of lawmakers who witnessed McCarthy abandon his campaign for the speakership. His decision leaves the chamber adrift at a time when it faces crucial decisions in the coming months on whether the government will default on its debt or shut down entirely.”
Wall Street Journal: House GOP Leadership in Turmoil
“Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy unexpectedly dropped out of the race to become speaker Thursday, plunging House Republicans into chaos and extending the struggles that have racked the party for years.”
New York Times: House, and a Republican Party, Divided Against Itself
“Right now, they appear unable to govern themselves. Representative Kevin McCarthy’s abrupt withdrawal Thursday from a speaker’s race he had been favored to win threw the House into tumult and left open the question of who would lead the chamber as Congress faces a series of deadlines to fund the government and keep the nation’s credit intact. It also threatened the party’s credibility with a presidential election just a year away.”
Los Angeles Times: House Republicans are torn over who should be speaker, and few want the job
“More moderate Republicans, though, said it was time for deep soul-searching in the GOP to decide whether the party wants to continue allowing a minority of its most conservative members to have such power.”