In the House, a spectacular flameout

By Dana Milbank

What a gas!

A week ago, Speaker Kevin McCarthy was king of the world. “Tonight we all made history,” the California Republican announced after the bipartisan debt deal sailed through the House. “There’s a whole new day here,” he proclaimed.

He then proceeded to do the legislative equivalent of slipping on a banana peel, pulling down the drapes, knocking over a fully laden buffet and face-planting into the wedding cake.

Just six days after his triumph, a small band of right-wing zealots who opposed the debt deal used parliamentary tactics to bring proceedings on the House floor to a halt, in the first protest of its kind in more than two decades. They shut down the House for a couple of hours, then for the entire day, then for the next day. After 6 p.m. on Wednesday, House GOP leaders surrendered to the saboteurs with a whip notice: “Members are advised that votes are no longer expected in the House this week. … Thank you all for your patience.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/06/09/imaginary-war-gas-stoves-house-gop/