Republican Desperadoes in the Capitol Are Damaging Democracy

The failure to choose a new speaker of the House of Representatives shows the party’s complete political incompetence. One can’t be happy with the state of things.

The Middle East faces a murderous conflagration. Ukrainians have to worry about weapon and munition supplies in the fight against the Russian aggressor. The U.S., with the biggest economy in the world, is nearing an unprecedented government shutdown as its budget resources dry up.

During this highly dramatic time in the world, the American Congress is focusing on the most important thing: itself. For five long hours on Tuesday, the Republican majority in the House tried once again to elect a new speaker. The attempt failed: The candidate would have needed 217 votes. Ultra-right hard-liner Jim Jordan got a mere 200 in his first attempt, which was three ballots fewer than his weaker predecessor, Kevin McCarthy. But the Trumpists overthrew him two weeks ago.

No Help for Others Is Possible

You might consider the whole thing to be a farce which exposes, in the most garish colors, the Republicans’ complete inability to govern. But the process is far too serious for that. Without a speaker, the House is incapable of acting. It cannot decide on aid for Ukraine or Israel or even a budget for the government. Thus the position of speaker needs to be filled as soon as possible.

Above all it reveals the full extent of the madness that dominates American politics. Almost two years ago, in January 2021, far-right thugs tried to force their way into the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., to prevent the democratic process of certifying the election, in order to place an illegitimate president in office. There are now people within the government who have the same mindset as that mob, and they hold enough votes to destroy democracy from the inside.

Out of a mixture of populist grandstanding, disdain for compromise and a desire for doom, these political extremists, under the leadership of their idol, Donald Trump, have rebelled against former Speaker of the House McCarthy. The removal of the opportunistic careerist was no loss. However, the associated shift in political weight must have been alarming: The rebels have been successful in getting the majority of the already right-wing faction inside the House to follow an ultra-right course. But despite heavy intimidation, they have so far not received enough votes to push through their hard-liner candidate in a session of the conference.*

No Compromises Possible

Politics cannot be done this way. But that doesn’t matter to Republican desperadoes. They care only about chaos and their increasingly radical public position. Even if Trumpist and election denier Jordan were to be selected in the third, fourth or one-hundredth round of voting, he would face the same fate as his predecessor. The smallest compromise, without which no legislation is possible, would result in his being sacked.

The only way out of this fatal destruction of democracy would be a coalition, which is unheard of in the U.S. two-party system: The remaining half-way moderate Republicans would have to break their loyalty to Trump and elect a compromise candidate together with the Democrats. But, they have yet to do so, out of fear of their voters and the party backers. Congress will probably continue to sink even further into chaos. How deep? For now, no one knows. One can only hope that the liberation point will come. But, based on past experience, it is not very likely.

*Editor’s Note: Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana received the required votes on Oct. 25, 2023, and is now speaker of the House.