The incapacitated Congress could be fixed — but it requires less GOP cowardice: experts

NBC News congressional reporter Sahil Kapur explained Sunday that the idea of a joint-rule Congress is never going to happen, not because of a lack of willingness, but because of minority rule.

He began citing an interview with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on "Meet the Press," Sunday, in which he explained it's up to the GOP to reach out to him if they want a coalition-style government. His key demand, he explained, is that the GOP must "end minority-of-the-minority rule."

"This exchange reveals why a coalition speaker is so unlikely," explained Kapur. "It requires flipping the basic dynamic of the House GOP — i.e. one where the hard-right has outsize power — upside down. That intra-party dynamic was built over a long period of time and it can’t be undone in a hurry."

The legal and political analyst "Southpaw," Luppe B. Luppen, replied to the comment calling it the dynamic of former Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) rule.

"A majority of the majority must consent to anything that moves on the House floor," he wrote. It "required a level of solidarity and a degree of moderation within the GOP that no longer exist. It eroded with every debt ceiling and shutdown crisis."

"We’re WAY past majority of the majority. That’s almost quaint now. Current dynamic in the House GOP is 4-10% of the most conservative members wield that power and the rest go along. When the 90-96% push back there is hell to pay, as evidenced by the debt limit-CR-MTV sequence," Kapur replied.

A majority-majority rule could marginalize the 4-10% of the House and give the non-fringe Republicans more power than they've had in years. If a majority of Republicans went with the coalition government, the small minority couldn't strike back against them as they'd be heavily marginalized.

See the conversation online here.