Kevin McCarthy's 'nihilistic tormenters' have created a 'legislative train wreck' for the GOP: analysis

The House GOP is in a state of chaos at exactly the moment that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) needs them to come together and vote on keeping the government open, lamented political analyst Stephen Collinson for CNN on Wednesday.

"Days of recriminations between far-right hardliners, moderates, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his nihilistic tormentors reached a new peak on Tuesday in extraordinary scenes of inter-party infighting on the south side of the US Capitol," wrote Collinson. "The legislative train wreck made clear that more is now at stake than McCarthy’s loosening grip on a job he craved for years and the capacity of the GOP to fulfill the chamber’s most basic function – setting a budget to run the country."

All of this comes as the GOP failed to muster enough votes for its own defense bill in a highly unusual embarrassment — and as House leaders punt another key procedural vote.

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?

"In Congress, chaos and ill-feeling often reach their most extreme pitch just before the fever breaks and a creative solution emerges to punt a problem weeks down the road," wrote Collinson. "McCarthy has been hoping this is the case by refusing to abandon the CR. But the Republican majority is so thin – the speaker can lose only four votes with its current margin – and the party is so bitterly divided, that past experience may be a poor predictor of outcomes. And for some a smallish block on the extreme edge of the pro-Trump conference, the chance to close down a government that many of them disdain could get them points from base voters and the ex-president and may be an end in itself."

Notably, even if McCarthy could get the continuing resolution passed, the Senate has made clear it won't support that plan even if it passes — making a shutdown, which will happen in 10 days absent any action, all the more likely.

The bottom line, wrote Collinson, is that even Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is counting on the passage of a defense bill for continued support to fight off Russian aggression, is alarmed by what he is seeing.

"Even to a leader from a war zone constantly under attack from Russian drones and missiles, Washington’s utter failure to govern itself is likely to look like dysfunction run riot," he wrote.