Some Democrats teasingly brought popcorn. At the beginning of this year, the Republican faction in the House of Representatives needed fifteen rounds of voting – despite a newly won majority – to promote its own leader Kevin McCarthy to chairman of parliament. The opposition painfully displayed its lack of unity. President Joe Biden’s party only had to watch.
On Tuesday, Democrats enjoyed the inevitable next act of this spectacle. McCarthy lost his gavel after nine months, after eight radical Republican rebels lost confidence in him. The House is without a speaker and it is unclear how quickly a successor will be found – an embarrassing first for the US.
The Democrats could have protected McCarthy from this putsch, but preferred to let their opponent’s ‘civil war’ rage on. The ruling party certainly had valid reasons for this. During his short term, McCarthy almost willingly allowed himself to be held hostage by the Trumpist wing of his group. They reject in advance any compromise with the Democrats. They control the Senate and White House, so negotiation was inevitable from the start. But McCarthy preferred to forfeit his last credit with the ruling party by launching an impeachment inquiry against Biden, without providing any convincing evidence for that tough step. Only under pressure from rapidly approaching economic disaster – this week a threatened government shutdown, last summer a state bankruptcy – McCarthy subsequently did business with the Democrats.
Yet the Democrats may still miss the Californian. Whoever succeeds him; the next Republican chairman will be inclined to give in even more strongly to the all-or-nothing politics of the radical faction. The candidates who have registered so far promise anything but a return of the ‘old’ Grand Old Party.
Normally, little meaningful legislation is expected in the year before a presidential race and with a divided Congress. With thirteen months to go until Election Day, Washington has now come to a complete standstill. This is despite the fact that the challenges facing the US (a brewing migration crisis at the southern border, possible recession, the ongoing opiate crisis, faltering support for Ukraine) have not diminished.
Democrats with a small ‘d’ should therefore not be pleased with the current chaos among the Republicans. This exposes a concrete rot that Congress also suffered from, long before Donald Trump hijacked the party. McCarthy was deposed by party members who have abandoned any ambition to engage in constructive politics. They represent “deep red” districts that are in safe Republican hands and only have to worry about their primary race, in which only the most motivated voters vote. To please them, their rhetoric and positions are becoming increasingly radicalized.
It’s this dynamiek that has been fueling polarization for decades – also among the Democrats, although to a lesser extent. Action can be taken against this. Some states are already experimenting with electoral systems that give the political center a stronger voice. It could also have a moderating effect if an independent party, rather than politicians themselves, draws the boundaries of the constituencies.
These types of reforms are desperately needed to make American democracy healthy. Citizens are enthusiastic about it. But in dysfunctional Washington they are further away than ever.
A version of this article also appeared in the October 6, 2023 newspaper.