McCarthy tells feuding GOP caucus the House isn't 'junior high.' The Late Show suggests Real Housewives.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) tried again Wednesday to "quietly extinguish various internal fires as an Islamophobia controversy consumes his GOP conference," specifically an ugly public feud between Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Politico reports.
After trying unsuccessfully to broker a ceasefire Tuesday night, McCarthy thanked the majority of his caucus Wednesday for not seeking controversy and headlines and insisted the House is a "serious" deliberative body and not a "junior high," Politico says. He did not mention Greene or Mace or Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), whose comments on Islam reignited this particular feud, by name, but "as more controversies crop up in McCarthy's conference, the ultra-conservatives in his party are increasingly emboldened."
Wednesday's Late Show shot past the junior high analogy and opened by turning the GOP disarray into a Real Housewives parody.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
McCarthy "has sought to handle internal strife privately in a bid to avoid alienating any of his members as he looks to both retake the majority and win the speaker's gavel next Congress," Politico reports, but his pitch to his caucus is that high-profile spats draw focus from the GOP's attacks on House Democrats. House Democrats suggested McCarthy's strategy isn't working.
"What more does Kevin McCarthy need to see? I mean, what more does this guy really need to see?" Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) asked. "He's got Marjorie Taylor Greene, completely out of control. Gosar out of control. Lauren Boebert out of control. Crossfire." McCarthy is unable to mediate this dispute, he added, "and we think this guy and this conference is going to solve problems on behalf of the American people?"
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
October 13 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Monday's political cartoons include Donald Trump's consolation prize, government workers during shutdown, and more
-
Can Gaza momentum help end the war in Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles hints at ‘warming relations’ between Ukraine and US
-
The Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners being released
The Explainer Triumphant Donald Trump addresses the Israeli parliament as families on both sides of the Gaza war reunite with their loved ones
-
Trump DOJ indicts New York AG Letitia James
Speed Read New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted as Trump’s Justice Department pursues charges against his political opponents
-
Judge blocks Trump’s Guard deployment in Chicago
Speed Read The president is temporarily blocked from federalizing the Illinois National Guard or deploying any Guard units in the state
-
Trump urges jail for Illinois, Chicago leaders
Speed Read The Texas National Guard begin operations in the Chicago area
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats