The Kevin McCarthy Mess Is Peak Trumpism

Trump’s “Sad!” Endorsement • Boebert’s Brutal Jab • Hope Hicks’s Worrisome Résumé

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The Kevin McCarthy Mess Is Peak Trumpism

Good morning from the Hive newsroom! The House adjourned last night with Republicans still failing to hand Kevin McCarthy the gavel, as this wildly dysfunctional spectacle resumes at noon today. “These congressional Kardashians don’t have a governing principle beyond obstruction and attention, of which they’ve all been getting amid this week’s party meltdown,” writes Molly Jong-Fast, who delivers a full breakdown in the latest episode of Inside the Hive.

Members of the House Freedom Caucus have subjected McCarthy to a series of humiliating losses in what Abigail Tracy and Eric Lutz describe as “a battle between the extreme Trump wing and the…well, very extreme Trump wing.” Perhaps the sharpest thorn in McCarthy’s side, Bess Levin notes, is Lauren Boebert, who on Wednesday mocked his steadfast fealty to Donald Trump by suggesting that the former president himself should tell McCarthy, “It’s time to withdraw.”

Zooming out from Capitol Hill, Levin also has the latest on apparent concerns among former Trump staffers that the Capitol riot might put a damper on their job prospects. Thanks for reading!

The Kevin McCarthy Mess Is Peak Trumpism

The GOP’s failure to get the 118th Congress going shows how the performative nature of today’s Trumpified party is making it incapable of governing.

Kevin McCarthy and the GOP’s Cult of No Personality

Republicans in disarray! 2023 is off to a losery bang for the wannabe House Speaker.

Kevin McCarthy, Still Not Speaker of the House

The California Republican has a lot of detractors who seem more than happy to continue blocking his bid for the speakership. McCarthy, though, maintains he has a shot.

Lauren Boebert Tells Trump to Stage an Intervention With Kevin McCarthy, Who’s Apparently Addicted to Losing the Speaker Vote

“The president needs to tell Kevin McCarthy that, sir, you do not have the votes and it’s time to withdraw.”

Hope Hicks Watched the Capitol Being Attacked and Thought, Oh, No! My Job Prospects!

Text messages show that the longtime adviser to Donald Trump spent the insurrection lamenting how it would result in unemployment for herself and others associated with the guy.