Staring down a fast-approaching government shutdown that threatens to disrupt life for millions of Americans, Speaker Kevin McCarthy has turned to a strategy that so far has preserved his tenuous hold on House leadership but also marked it by chaos: giving hard-right lawmakers what they want.
In his eight months running the House, McCarthy has lived by the upbeat personal mantra of “never give up” as he dodges threats to his speakership and tries to portray Republicans as capable stewards of the U.S. government. He has long chided Washington for underestimating him.
But with the House GOP majority in turmoil, all but certain to hurl the country into a shutdown, McCarthy has set aside the more traditional tools of the gavel to keep rebels in line. Instead, he has acceded to a small band led by those instigating his ouster, even if that means closing federal offices.
I think he’s probably right that people underestimate him. I think he’s underestimating the difficulty of his job too though. He probably thinks its nigh-impossible to basically herd cats, but it’s actually fully impossible, which is why so few people wanted that job.
I think people overestimate him. He rode Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor as the Lepidus of the group and was the last one standing.