Throughout the battle between House GOP leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California and a small group of congressional Republicans blocking his election as Speaker, most media coverage of negotiations has focused on arcane procedural disputes. The anti-McCarthy faction calls for more control over House committees and more power to oust a Speaker, and promises to hold votes on certain controversial issues. The press excitement stems from the suspicion that the demands are arbitrary and capricious, believed to be little more than a way to justify what is primarily an effort to oust McCarthy as a raw show of power.
But while some of these demands are alarming because they invite legislative chaos for the next two years, there's one aspect of this very public fight that may be even more dangerous: The way that both the demands of the anti-McCarthy group and his concessions to them could signal to would-be domestic terrorists that they have the support of the Republican party. While the conflict between McCarthy and his Republican opponents seems at a stalemate as of Friday morning, both sides do agree on these security-related issues. Two years after Donald Trump incited an insurrection at the Capitol in a desperate bid to remain in power, the Republican-controlled House is making moves that read strongly as winking encouragement not just to the people who rioted that day, but to anyone who would follow in their footsteps.
