Who chose the new speaker: Republicans or Trump?

Francis Wilkinson, Tribune News Service

The chaos of October has brought the House GOP back to where it began: Some guy is once again Speaker of the House. His name is, for now, Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, not that it matters. If Donald Trump tells him to change it, as when Trump ordered Republican Party chairman Ronna Romney McDaniel to drop the “Romney” from her moniker, Mike Johnson will become Speaker Sammy Skeever or Mike Maloney. Unlike previous speaker candidates in recent weeks, such as Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Johnson has gone to the trouble of acquiring some actual policies to inform his cultural reaction. Not that the policies matter, either. No one, least of all Republicans, thinks that the GOP is capable of legislating. If all goes well, the party that has organised itself around Trump’s voluble lies and seething rage will keep the government open and fund whatever the White House and Senate work out. If all doesn’t go well, the House GOP, having recommitted itself to lawlessness and deceit, will precipitate another existential crisis for American democracy.

More than anything, the great GOP speaker fiasco of 2023 has been a lengthy tribute to the godlike supremacy of the MAGA king. “MAGA is ascendant,” far right radical Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida told podcaster Steve Bannon. In that, it mirrors the degrading GOP presidential primary, in which candidates run, sort of, for an office that has already been assigned. Trump, after all, has already picked the party’s presidential nominee. He more or less picked the speaker, too. When Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota made a dash for the speaker’s chalice three weeks into the jungle trek, Trump took a few seconds from a busy day trying to stay out of jail to destroy Emmer’s political life. It was quick, vicious work, like watching a hound seize a gopher and instantly snap its neck. Emmer meekly withdrew.

What ultimately matters is that Trump has an obedient speaker who supported Trump’s attempted coup after he lost the 2020 election by seven million votes. Johnson, or his replacement if Johnson doesn’t last, must be poised to perform a similar duty if Trump fails again in 2024. Anyone unwilling to overthrow the republic and keep Trump out of jail is a MAGA enemy. They must be purged. Jordan, the demagogue from Ohio, showed the way even in defeat. With the support of MAGA thugs who threatened holdouts on Jordan’s behalf, Jordan reached 200 votes – more than a dozen shy of what he needed – in the GOP conference before faltering in his own quest for the speakership. Some claimed the threats backfired. It’s an encouraging story, suggesting the ever-shrinking minority of small “r” republicans in the GOP conference had found a backbone. For some, it was no doubt true. But in a secret vote, with no death threats to focus their minds, GOP House members abandoned Jordan en masse. It seems the threats worked pretty well after all. “Hang Mike Pence” isn’t just a MAGA slogan; it’s the template for intraparty politicking.

Every Republican action now is shaped by Trumpism and the political desperation and cultural panic that birther-ed it. The entire GOP presidential field flits in and out of Trump’s giant shadow. The new speaker will have to pledge fealty to the full panoply of Trumpist depravity. As Trump’s legal peril comes increasingly into focus — crimes, already well documented, are now being admitted by various Trump thugs — the job of servicing the MAGA king will grow more complex and demanding. Under Republican leadership, the House of Representatives has been a reactionary backwater that periodically shuts down in fits of rage. The speaker’s contest has been another giant step into political degeneracy. Still, the party is not technically dysfunctional. The GOP House is only an embarrassment if you are under the mistaken impression that House Republicans are there to serve the national interest. Emphatically, they are not. They are there to serve the MAGA lord, whose personal goals are dependent on the success of his authoritarian goals. And, truly, by that measure, House Republicans are not doing such a bad job.