Part political performance, part stall tactic, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy unleashed a long, rambling and vitriolic speech, seizing control of the House floor and preempting passage of President Joe Biden’s big domestic policy bill.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Part political performance, part stall tactic, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy unleashed a long, rambling and vitriolic speech overnight, seizing control of the House floor and preempting for a time the vote on President Joe Biden’s big domestic policy bill. Sneering with disdain one minute, spilling sarcasm the next, McCarthy carried on for more than eight hours as Thursday night became Friday morning. He spewed a tirade of grievances that reached far beyond Biden’s legislative package, morphing into a monologue of complaints over what’s wrong with the country and the Democrats who control Washington. Far from the “happy conservative” he claimed to be, the California Republican debuted a new role: angry heir to the Donald Trump legacy, picking up where the former president left off, mercilessly attacking his political opponents and their ideas with a ferocity that is rare even for the divided halls of Congress. The speech was a fact-checker’s bonanza. “If I sound angry, I am,” he said as the speech began. “I’m just getting geared up, go just sit,” he said several hours later. At another point, he said, “I know you don’t like me, but that’s OK.” The drawn-out speech did not stop the advance of Biden’s bill — the House approved it early Friday, sending the legislation to the Senate — but provided a politically pained capstone to an extremely tense week in what has been one of the more divisive and dangerous years in Congress. Monday started with celebration, a rare bipartisan achievement, as Biden signed the related $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law. By midweek the House censured one of its own, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., for posting a graphic video depicting violence against fellow elected officials. And as Friday began, McCarthy was deep into his stemwinder, shutting down business as usual. Overheated rhetoric is nothing new in politics, but the post-Trump era has set the bar for a troubling new normal, a climate that has allowed fiery speeches to quickly devolve into more dangerous terrain — like the former president’s own rally cry that sparked the Jan.6 insurrection at the Capitol trying to overturn Biden’s election victory.
