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House GOP Strike Over
The U.S. House of Representatives just elected Congressman Mike Johnson (R-LA) to be Speaker of the House.
“The GOP is broken, and the nation is paying the price in House speaker turmoil,” complained the LA Times Editorial Board yesterday. “The repeated failure of House Republicans to elect a speaker to succeed the defenestrated Kevin McCarthy is more than a political tragicomedy; it’s a threat to the national interest at a time of turmoil in Ukraine and the Middle East and another looming deadline for avoiding a government shutdown.”
The LA Times was, unsurprisingly, not the only liberal media outlet prepared to pan Republicans for what amounted to a labor strike. Still, there were concessions to be given, compromises to work out, and working conditions to be hammered into a consensus. The process wasn’t pretty; when is it ever?
“‘Are we screwed?’: Anguished House GOP turns to fourth speaker pick,” wrote Sarah Ferris, Jordain Carney, Olivia Beavers, Anthony Adragna, and Jennifer Scholtes for POLITICO yesterday. “Their third speaker pick in three weeks lasted barely four hours. Then, with their desperation on full display, Republicans gave it one more try.”
This Republican majority caucus, like the last Democratic one presided over by the more experienced iron fist of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was always bound to be an…