McCarthy’s Weak Hand Is His Secret Weapon

Kevin McCarthy has thus far surpassed the low expectations that greeted the rocky beginning of his speakership. Has he been underestimated? With the narrowest and most fractious of majorities, barely elected to the office after humiliatingly abasing himself to his caucus, noticeably lacking in public charisma or a reputation for ferocity, McCarthy was expected to struggle to get much done. Yet look at the record so far. He got a debt-ceiling raise passed before the Senate did, and with enough Republican wish-list items attached that he has a lot of chips to trade away. Joe Biden was so unprepared for McCarthy to do this that his only response has been to pretend it didn’t happen.

Along the way, in the debt-ceiling negotiations, McCarthy got Mitch McConnell to defer to him while McCarthy takes the lead and Donald Trump and Chip Roy play the bad cops. On immigration, McCarthy got a border security package passed ahead of the expiration of Title 42, again putting a proposal on the table while the Senate dithers and the White House blusters. As Matthew Continetti notes, these are not McCarthy’s only wins, either:

About the Author

Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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Kevin McCarthy has thus far surpassed the low expectations that greeted the rocky beginning of his speakership. Has he been underestimated? With the narrowest and most fractious of majorities, barely elected to the office after humiliatingly abasing himself to his caucus, noticeably lacking in public charisma or a reputation for ferocity, McCarthy was expected to struggle to get much done. Yet look at the record so far. He got a debt-ceiling raise passed before the Senate did, and with enough Republican wish-list items attached that he has a lot of chips to trade away. Joe Biden was so unprepared for McCarthy to do this that his only response has been to pretend it didn’t happen.

Along the way, in the debt-ceiling negotiations, McCarthy got Mitch McConnell to defer to him while McCarthy takes the lead and Donald Trump and Chip Roy play the bad cops. On immigration, McCarthy got a border security package passed ahead of the expiration of Title 42, again putting a proposal on the table while the Senate dithers and the White House blusters. As Matthew Continetti notes, these are not McCarthy’s only wins, either: