Opinion: Kevin McCarthy faces a crisis of his own making

Editor’s Note: Jill Filipovich is a New York-based journalist and author of OK Boomer, Let’s Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind. follow her on her twitter @JillFilipovicThe opinions expressed in this commentary are her own. View more opinions on CNN.

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Tuesday was supposed to be a fun day for Republicans in Congress. The vote showed how dysfunctional the Republican Party had become and how precarious the Republican Party had become.

Despite being a minority, it was the Democrats who celebrated Tuesday, voting unanimously to chair Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the first African-American to lead a major party in Congress. did. He was the House’s first female Speaker, succeeding Nancy Pelosi, who led House Democrats for her 20 years.

Republicans took a much tougher stance. Minority leader Kevin McCarthy failed to collect the votes needed for the presidency – the first time in 100 years that the vote had to exceed the first vote. New York Republican Rep. announced His nomination, citing a midterm victory that brought a Republican majority to the House under McCarthy’s leadership.

But the Republican House has a narrow majority, and Republican candidates have fared much worse than expected in the midterms. While voters have generally rejected Republican extremism, Republicans are leaning toward conspiracy theories and the cult of former President Donald Trump, with Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Marjorie Taylor-Green of Georgia, Arizona Andy Biggs of the state, Matt Gates of Florida, and Jim Jordan of Ohio were re-elected.

“Furious” Greene was one of the few far right Republicans to vote for McCarthy. But how is that view ubiquitous when more than a dozen elected members of Congress hold it?

But don’t cry for McCarthy. He has spent the past few years courting and catering to people in his party who are involved in conspiracy theories and election denials.

He seems to realize how damaging Trump and the cult of personality around him has done to the Republican Party.In his private call in the aftermath of Jan. 6, 2021, he He has made it clear that he is concerned that party members are endangering other lawmakers in their rhetoric – but chooses to empower those dangerous members anyway.

Now he reaps the consequences of helping to reshape his party in the image of Trump. , was to deliberately destroy the kinds of traditions that helped build trust and functioning governance. His most ardent supporters in Congress have followed his lead and embraced this spirit of narcissism and all-consuming rage.

Shortly after the Jan. 6 attacks, Mr. McCarthy said Mr. Trump was responsible for it, but did not support impeachment. The result of him handing over his power to something unhinged.

The Republican Party is in a precarious position right now. Even when McCarthy managed to oust the leader, a powerful and vocal contingent of his party publicly insulted him and expressed a lack of confidence in his rule (of the extremists who voted against McCarthy). Some of the loudest and most famous members of Congress).

This does not bode well for the Republican Party’s ability to govern, and instead the next two years could be marked not only by bitter partisan divisions, but also by a deeply dysfunctional Republican Party heading into a contentious presidential election. suggests that there is

This is the Republican Party that Trump created. But it’s also the party McCarthy has been raising. And now he’s meeting his monster.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the status of Senator Lauren Boebert. She is a member of the US House of Representatives from Colorado.