House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's relentless desire to attain his current leadership position lording over the GOP caucus has had the effect of elevating highly controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to a position of power where he can no longer control her.
That is the opinion of longtime political observer Dana Milbank in a Washington Post column Friday in which he scorched the California Republican by bluntly stating in his first sentence: "This is the price America pays for Kevin McCarthy’s ambition."
Reflecting on a week when the Georgia Republican infuriated members of her own party with her over-the-top antics and ravings at the Biden administration, Milbank stated McCarthy's need for personal advancement, which required enlisting Taylor Greene to help him get the votes he required to become speaker, should be the focus of GOP ire.
"This is why extremists such as Greene can’t be dismissed as gadflies. They are central to the new majority. Greene was given a position of prominence by McCarthy, she raises prodigious funds, which her GOP colleagues gladly accept, and they defend her indefensible behavior," the columnist wrote.
"McCarthy has little to show for his first 100 days in charge. But he has excellent venues from which to show it" Milbank wrote sarcastically before adding, "By this time in the last Congress, seven bills had already become law, including major legislation such as the American Rescue Plan and the Paycheck Protection Program extension.
"In late December, incoming House Majority Leader Steve Scalise released a 'floor schedule' listing 11 bills that would be brought to the House floor within the new majority’s first two weeks. But close to four months later, House Republicans have passed only six of the 11, as Politico’s Daniella Diaz noted, a casualty of 'internal struggles' among Republicans."
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