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IPFS News Link • Congress-Congressmen

The 55th Speaker: Kevin McCarthy Is No Nancy Pelosi... And That's A Good Thing

• https://www.zerohedge.com by Jonathan Turley

As noted below, I did not support the standoff and I do not support some of the changes that came out of the negotiations. Some of these changes were already in the works with McCarthy's support. Moreover, some of these changes will make it more challenging for the Speaker by returning to prior rules allowing greater opportunity for amendments and floor fights. However, the holdouts were right that things have to change in Congress, particularly in allowing greater deliberation and debate over legislation. Some of these changes could achieve that worthy goal. 

Here is the column:

The ascendance of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as the 55th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives may have come with all of the spontaneity of a shotgun wedding — but it finally came. McCarthy deserved better than a tortuous three-day floor fight but, then again, he is now second in line to the presidency.

Many of us have great sympathy for McCarthy, who looked like a guy caught in a feedback loop stepping on the same rake over and over again. (For the record, I opposed the floor fight, given the overwhelming support for McCarthy.) However, as is often the case in Washington, the narrative opposing these holdouts allowed for little recognition of what they achieved in McCarthy's concessions. Indeed, the Washington Post's Dana Milbank ran a column titled "McCarthy's fate is irrelevant. The terrorists have already won."

Moreover, many in the media were honest about what they consider his greatest shortcoming: "Kevin McCarthy is no Nancy Pelosi."

Some of us sincerely hope so.


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