Devin Nunes simply realized what Republicans actually care about

Devin Nunes.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images, iStock)

California Rep. Devin Nunes' decision not to run for re-election to head former President Donald Trump's new social media venture is the perfect summation of the state of the Republican Party. This would only make sense in a climate where a Twitter and talk show provocateur like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) — who has been stripped of all her committee assignments — is better known than every ranking Republican with the possible exception of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Nunes is in line to chair the House Ways and Means Committee following an election in which Republicans are heavily favored, and it is practically the house style of every political publication to append the adjective "powerful" to the tax-writing committee. This is a highly coveted chair. Yet it is no longer the primary path to power or influence in today's GOP.

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W. James Antle III

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?.