The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board on Saturday absolutely flamed “dimwitted” Republican lawmakers who can’t find their way out of a tangled power battle in Congress between centrists and extremists.
“Republicans are the gang that couldn’t shoot straight — except at one another,” mocked an editorial in the newspaper.
“Too many House Republicans are too dimwitted to understand the uses of power and how to wield it,” the Journal argued. “They’d rather rage against the machine to no useful effect.”
While House Democrats have effectively managed a “seamless” changeover after the elections, Republicans “can’t even find the votes to elect a GOP Speaker, much less agree on budget strategy or much of anything else,” according to the Journal.
Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) resoundingly won the GOP caucus vote to become House GOP leader over Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs. But Biggs is still planning to run against McCarthy for speaker on the House floor on Jan. 3. Others may also oppose McCarthy, which could lead to “multiple ballots, and ... even a Democratic speaker,” the Journal emphasized, which would be disastrous for Republicans.
Senate Republicans, meanwhile, are doing McCarthy “no favors” by joining Democrats to pass a giant omnibus spending bill for fiscal 2023, according to the Journal. Most House Republicans prefer a continuing resolution to fund the government only into early next year, when Republicans will have more leverage as the House majority.
That “lack of coordination” between the House and Senate GOP “bodes ill for any coherent” Republican agenda over the next two years, the editorial warned. Republicans could be in such disarray that President Joe Biden and the Democrats could roll right over them.
Check out the full Wall Street Journal editorial.