It seems like only yesterday that we were on the cusp of defaulting on the debt and many of us were predicting that the kamikaze Freedom Caucus in the House of Representatives was going to make it happen. They sure sounded serious. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was unable to keep that extremist right flank under control and they were threatening to unseat him under the rule they insisted he adopt in order to get the votes he needed to attain office if he didn't meet their demands. With a four-vote margin, he had almost no room to maneuver. After the interminable 15 rounds of voting and all the backroom deals he had to make to get the gavel back in January, the prospects for a deal looked very slim. Yet, with all that working against them, McCarthy and President Biden surprised everyone by managing to pound out an agreement that could get the required number of votes in both chambers of Congress. A number of House Republicans were livid, especially the Freedom Caucus, and refused to vote for it. But Democrats filled in the gaps and saved McCarthy — and the country — from catastrophe at the last minute.
There was a lot of grumbling but no one took any action to unseat McCarthy. Instead, the House Republicans picked up where they left off with their performative investigations. But some of them aren't stupid and they knew they would soon get another chance to force their will on the country. While the debt ceiling deal ostensibly "capped" all spending at 2023 levels for two years, nobody said that appropriations bills which had to be finished by September 30 couldn't be cut to the bone.
