The Long Path Kevin McCarthy Took to Get Here

And Democrats' Perilous Decision

Yesterday was a historic day as, for the first time in American history, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives was removed from that office.

There is one way of telling the story of former Speaker of the House Congressman Kevin McCarthy’s downfall, and that is as a historical narrative that suggests this is essentially McCarthy’s comeuppance for betraying his conscience and caving to Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans in order to ascend as Speaker. This has some merit. It is a straight telling of (some of) the facts. Speaker McCarthy bears blame and responsibility for elevating Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Green, for instance, and allowing the impeachment process for President Biden to move forward (I suspect he did so hoping it would buy him favor with people like Rep. Matt Gaetz in a scenario just like this one). He bears blame for having one private assessment of Donald Trump, and not only refusing to back up that assessment with action, but undercutting the ability and efficacy of others to act on their own similar assessment.

But I am dissatisfied with this kind of story because I believe it is both too short-sighted and not focused enough on the actual decision that was at hand yesterday.

And so, in a paid subscribers-only post, I want to share some provisional thoughts on what led to McCarthy’s demise as Speaker, and my concerns about the message it sends (even if there are justifications and plausible rationales for it) and where we go from here.