The GOP's problem caucus
Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) is enmeshed in yet another scandal, a series of controversies that run the gamut from insider trading to lingerie wearing. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) mused about Satan's alleged control of the Roman Catholic Church.
Call them the GOP's problem caucus. A handful of congressional Republicans persistently draw outsized media coverage and cause headaches for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who will be asked to answer for Greene's theological disquisitions and Cawthorn's legal or sartorial choices.
It won't be a problem in the midterm elections. Republicans are likely to win in spite of them, and they themselves are heavily favored to win reelection. But they will become a bigger problem if there is a Republican majority next year, and they will get even more attention as Democrats elevate them in an effort to make Donald Trump look like Edmund Burke by comparison.
Subscribe to 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.
Leadership has little recourse against these problem children. You can strip them of their committee assignments (or in Greene's case, keep them off committees) and hope their constituents decide they don't have enough juice in Washington to do the job. But it's not clear that these lawmakers have much interest in committee work or legislation. In fact, this just frees them up to make more trouble.
Party leaders can also try to starve them of funding sources. But these members of Congress have high profiles and national fundraising bases from which they can draw. The bigger bucks may not be available to them, but the small donors could sustain them.
Depending on the size of the Republican majority, in fact, McCarthy may need their votes for speaker more than they need anything from leadership.
This has been a time-honored tradition for troubled Democratic presidents too: lose the midterm elections but then run against the "extreme" Republican Congress. It helped Barack Obama and Bill Clinton get reelected. Could it work for President Biden as well? No matter who wields the gavel, they will make Madison Cawthorn seem like the speaker of the House.
If McCarthy and company don't have a plan for dealing with the MTGs in their conference, they had better develop one — fast.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
W. James Antle III is the politics editor of the Washington Examiner, the former editor of The American Conservative, and author of Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?.
-
Why au pairs might become a thing of the past
Under The Radar Brexit and wage ruling are threatening the 'mutually beneficial arrangement'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'A direct, protracted war with Israel is not something Iran is equipped to fight'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - April 17, 2024
Cartoons Wednesday's cartoons - political anxiety, jury sorting hat, and more
By The Week US Published
-
'Good riddance to the televised presidential debate'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Making sense of FISA's strange bedfellows in Congress
The Explainer How a controversial intelligence gathering law is bringing progressive Democrats and privacy hawk Republicans together
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'This isn't judicial restraint — it's judicial activism'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Young kids simply shouldn't be on social media'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
'A golden opportunity to uphold true patriotism'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Ronna McDaniel, the former RNC chair and departed NBC analyst, may be signaling a shift in corporate media
The Explainer McDaniel joined NBC less than a month after stepping down from the RNC — and was out days later
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published