House Republicans want voters to reward them for their mayhem on Election Day

Thursday marks the first anniversary of the defining moment for Republicans in the House of Representatives this legislative session: They removed the speaker they had spent 15 rounds of voting to install just nine months earlier. The decision to oust California Rep. Kevin McCarthy wasn’t a great campaign performance — especially not for GOP members looking to secure a second term. But there hasn’t been much in the last two years that makes a good case for giving Republicans another chance at the majority next year.

And yet that’s exactly what House Republicans are doing right now: giving themselves a break from the hard work they haven’t put into campaigning over the next few weeks. Despite what a miserable disaster the last two years have been, about two dozen incumbent Republicans are trying to convince Americans that they deserve to remain in the majority in the 119th Congress. It is a level of boldness that should be disqualifying, not rewarded with another two years of mediocrity and, at worst, enabling the end of democracy in a second Trump administration.

While McCarthy’s ignoble retirement from the speakership was a low point, the House majority didn’t exactly spend the rest of its time covering itself in glory. With only a lame-duck session left after the election, and with it another spending fight, no major legislative push is planned to take advantage of these final weeks. Accordingly, the 118th Congress will go down in history for enacting the fewest laws in modern history.

The best thing that can be said about the House of Representatives over the last two years is that it has kept the lights on in Washington – barely. There have been five shutdown threats during that time as Republicans spent more time arguing among themselves over spending levels than debating with Democrats in the Senate and President Joe Biden in the White House. That total includes the one that got McCarthy expelled after he approved a short-term spending bill that his right wing opposed. However, he was already on thin ice as he decided to avoid default by agreeing to raise the debt ceiling in April 2023.

The outrage over protecting the full faith and credit of the United States has focused on a group of far-right MAGA members that I have dubbed the “Chaos Caucus.” Her maximalist attitude was a headache for both McCarthy and his successor as speaker, Mike Johnson of Louisiana, both of whom tried to placate her mercurial moods. As a result, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., has at times struggled to pass even routine measures to clear the way for what are essentially news laws.

In fact, much of the credit for even the simplest tasks goes to the minority Democrats who were willing to step in and save the Republicans from themselves. One of the few major pieces of legislation passed this legislative session was a funding package to support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. It was pushed across the finish line without the majority of the GOP caucus ensuring that the bills could even be debated. Also missing was the immigration bill, which Republicans initially called for to be included in any relief package, but then stalled at the urging of former President Donald Trump.

Even things nominally under Republican control failed to coalesce into anything substantial. Their promise to restore “normal order” and pass all 12 annual spending bills on time has hit a wall again, with no real effort from Democrats to stop them. Likewise, their efforts to find a pretext for impeaching Biden ended in dismal failure in the form of a lackluster report released after he ended his campaign. But since the House Oversight Committee apparently has nothing better to do, it has set out to search for Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

This new fishing expedition against the Democrats takes place in a leaky boat, with nothing but frayed lines and almost no dangling bait. If something truly damaging comes along, it’s more likely to be a coincidence than a ploy by Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. That is, the house did They manage to indict Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on false charges, but he remains in office. The same cannot be said for former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., whom the House of Representatives was actually able to expel after taking into account the numerous crimes he committed in the process of running for his seat.

This is the absolute mess that Republicans snuck back into their districts to sell to voters when the House recessed last week. Only thanks to partisan gerrymandering and the rightward shift of the GOP primaries will most of those who voted for re-election find themselves back in Washington next year. The few representatives in swing districts are essentially on their own, figuring out what message they can convey to old-fashioned voters who expect results from their congressmen.

Aside from their general disinterest in governing, Republicans have good reasons to feel comfortable with their boldness. As The New York Times recently noted, “Lawmakers benefit from the fact that the bar is set very low: Polls show that the vast majority of voters have said for years that they have a poor opinion of Congress and think it is already broken.” So it’s clear that the GOP’s core voters not only agree with the current situation, but also want members who continue to operate according to the same fiddly formula. How lucky for the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives – and how unfortunate for everyone hoping that Congress gets something done next year.