House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said the concessions Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) made to the MAGA-infused conservative holdouts in order to become speaker is “just the beginning” of “dysfunction” for the GOP-led 118th Congress, summing up well the new reality we all witnessed chaotically unfolding on the House floor last week.
“Our general concern is that the dysfunction that was historic that we saw this week is not at an end, it’s just the beginning,” Jeffries told “Meet The Press” host Chuck Todd on Sunday.
But what happened on the House floor last week was not only the beginning of “dysfunction” – it also was the beginning of the MAGA-wing members flexing the obstruction-y power they intend to hold over McCarthy and the rest of the Republican party for the next two years. Last week’s circus was just our first, real, public peek into the humiliation that awaits McCarthy.
“And while the Congress was held captive this particular time, what is going to be a problem is if the American people will be held captive over the next two years to the extreme MAGA Republican agenda that apparently has been negotiated into the House rules and the functioning of the Congress,” Jeffries added.
During the four day long speaker elections, McCarthy made a number of consequential promises to the 20 far-right holdouts in exchange for their votes — including giving each member the ability to force a vote to overthrow the speaker. Jeffries raised concerns that some of these promises made during the negotiations could impair — or even immobilize, just like it did last week — the functioning of the House.
“That’s going to undermine the health, the safety, and the well-being of the American people,” Jeffries said. “It may undermine national security and a robust defense, and undermine our ability to actually advance an agenda that is anchored in kitchen-table pocketbook issues and not extremism.”
Jeffries also said he will try to reach a “functional House” by trying to work with Speaker McCarthy, adding that if McCarthy and the Republicans are willing to work with Democrats and find common ground, they will “find willing partners.”
“Kevin McCarthy and I’ve had some positive forward looking conversations over the last few weeks and I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to build upon those conversations to do the right thing for the American people,” Jeffries added. “Clearly, we’re going to have strong disagreements at times. But we can agree to disagree without being disagreeable. That is what I believe the American people would like to see.”
A lot of Dem leaning voters who split tickets or didn’t vote have enabled this extreme House. While Dems had a very strong midterm, bucked a lot of historic trends and increased the size of their reliable base, Dems really just dropped the ball in some very winnable races. You have to vote Dem in every election to end this cycle of extremism.
Even with all the doom-saying by panicky people regarding the antics anticipated from House GOP, I think we should also lay in popcorn and whiskey so we can fully enjoy 2 years of Hakeem Jeffries beating the absolute living shit out of Gym Jordan and any other MAGAt dumb enough to try him.
Personally I think the next two years will be the end of MAGA and the performative Congressional personalities embodying their version of nihilism. When they threaten the world economy if the Democrats don’t go along with their wish list they are going to reap the whirlwind.
Jeffries isn’t wrong. And it’s only a matter of time before the full force of this captivity begins to hit the American people.