At this point in his political career, Republican Kevin McCarthy does not know whether he is Hamlet in eternal doubt or King Lear in the midst of family conflict. He does not know if he has crossed the Rubicon, a point of no return, or the Leteu river, that of the dark night of the soul that precedes the cemetery and the land of oblivion. Whether he is a hero or a villain or both at the same time.
"Qué será, será" is already playing in the background in the voice of Doris Day, in Alfred Hitchcock's film The Man Who Knew Too Much.
Everything confirms that McCarthy, the speaker (speaker) of the Lower House of the United States Congress, was fully aware that he was opening the box of thrones within his own ranks when he presented for approval a proposal for a 45-day extension to the shutdown of the US Administration.
The Government avoided the closure almost to the limit, late on Saturday, when the deadline expired. It was achieved with an interim budget bill formulated by McCarthy that was overwhelmingly voted down by Democrats. There was only one no. But there were also 90 dissident conservatives in the Lower House and 9 in the Senate.
Matt Gaetz, spokesman for the far-right legislators, walked around the television sets on Sunday to announce his desire to "force a motion" to remove McCarthy's baton. It should not be forgotten that Gaetz already forced fifteen votes in January before the California Republican took office.
"We have to tear off the strip. We need a leadership that is trustworthy", repeated Gaetz yesterday. Your bet requires 218 votes. The speaker is only saved if the Democrats do not vote against him. "If McCarthy remains in office next Sunday, he will be serving at the pleasure of the Democrats, he will work for them, he will only continue if the Democrats bail him out," he said.
Progressives, however, have their doubts. Especially after McCarthy satisfied the ultras by opening an impeachment process against President Biden without having evidence. Nancy Pelosi did not want to speak this Sunday and limited herself to answering that "we must follow the leader", Hakeem Jeffries, head of the Democratic minority in the House. His colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did not cut corners and bet to vote against McCarthy. He even suggested the idea that, given the lack of Republican leadership, Jeffries should be elected.
All this takes place after two hectic days. After twenty-one ultra-legislators like Gaetz, Trumpists of the MAGA movement, on Friday knocked down a very conservative provisional budget project, unviable in a Senate controlled by progressives, the speaker made a radical turn on Saturday proposing an extension until the 17 of November, with a plan in line with democratic wishes.
The draft included a waiver for each side. There was no help for Ukraine, one of the liberals' flags, and no reinforcements for the crackdown on the border with Mexico, a conservative standard. "I like to bet", stressed McCarthy when, before the vote, he was questioned about this initiative that could cost him the position. "If someone tries to eliminate me because I want to be the adult at the meeting, go ahead", he replied.
"If I have to risk my job to defend Americans, I will risk it," he said.
Donald Trump expressed no satisfaction at the result: he had advocated for sowing chaos. But President Joe Biden thanked McCarthy on Saturday and appeared in front of the nation on Sunday to demand that, in addition to the aid to Ukraine previously agreed to with McCarthy not to be cut off, an end to the practice of governing after crises manufactured by republican extremists, whom he holds responsible for what has happened and calls them losers.
The ultras, for their part, cried out for revenge. Legislator Andy Biggs made a post on X that anticipates what's to come. "Instead of standing with his party, Kevin McCarthy has aligned himself with 209 Democrats," he wrote. "He has allowed the single party of DC [Washington] to win again: Should he continue as speaker of the House?".
The answer was offered by his colleague Gaetz. "This agreement he has made with the Democrats is the final straw", he stressed about the speaker's initiative. "And overnight we know that he has a secret pact with the Democrats on Ukraine", he pointed out.
McCarthy, who was defended by several colleagues, confessed that he is not worried. "Gaetz is more interested in giving interviews than doing anything," he insisted. And he resorted to an expression, this time not from Doris Day, but from Gloria Gaynor: "I'll survive".
