I’ll start this week’s column with the good news. I believe the Democrats’ chances in the 2024 US presidential election are decent, given both that abortion is likely to be front and center and that last week radical Republicans once again tried to shut down the federal government because they could not get their culture-warring priorities – specifically anti-trans attacks in this case – into a budget bill that could pass the Democratic-controlled Senate.
While a shutdown was ultimately averted, these petulant political fits don’t tend to work out well for Republicans – though it seems they just can’t quit them. As one frustrated Republican member of the House said last week: “We always get the blame.” Well, yes. That’s because literally every federal government shutdown in recent memory has been the GOP’s fault, as has all the resulting economic pain inflicted on federal employees and other workers who depend on federal funding.
In this case, such economic pain is still looming; the stopgap bill agreed by Republican Kevin McCarthy only kicks the can down the road for 45 days, after which the more extreme members of his already extreme party may eventually manage to force a shutdown anyway. In the meantime, McCarthy’s deal with the Democrats who helped him pass his budget bill has cost him his speakership, becoming the first person in history to be removed from the role.
