Thanks to "one-half of one of the three branches of the federal government" being "completely dysfunctional" under GOP leadership, America is facing the reality of another government shutdown, according to columnist Heather Digby Parton.
And she puts the blame squarely on one person who, she says, isn't showing the "guts" to do his job.
Parton accuses the Republican House of Representatives of being simply incapable of passing legislation, and says that 2023 was the least productive year "since the Great Depression with Congress passing just 27 pieces of legislation that became law."
"This is the third time in six months that the country has been on the brink of a shutdown because the hard right in the House is holding their breath until they turn blue," Parton writes. "It's not clear what they want except perhaps to cause more chaos."
Parton contends that the fate of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy may await current House Speaker Mike Johnson, and there's "nothing in his performance so far" that suggests he can amend the current situation.
Also read: 'Comedy of errors': Jamie Raskin sticks a fork in GOP impeachment probe
"At the moment, funding for Ukraine, the border, Israel, Taiwan and Gaza is dead and Republicans are screaming incoherently about how the border must be dealt with even though they just shot down a bill that any hard-line, immigrant-hating right-winger should have been thrilled to vote for," she wrote.
"None of it makes any sense at all."
Other spending bills are in limbo as well. Unless an agreement is reached or another continuing resolution is passed, a portion of the federal budget will shut down on March 2, and the rest of the government will shut down a week later. But after returning from an extended break this week, the House found that talks had gotten nowhere.
"It's all up to Johnson in the end," she wrote.
"He knows he can pass these bills in minutes and get everything funded, including Ukraine and the border, immediately if he will bring the bills to the floor and allow it to pass with Democratic votes and a handful of sane Republicans. But he may very well lose his speakership if he does that, just as McCarthy did."
The test, she said, is if he's willing to put his country's welfare before his desire to keep his job.
"There is nothing so far to indicate that he has the character or the guts to sacrifice his ambition to do that even though many lives are at stake here in the U.S. and around the world," she wrote.
Parton added: "Considering that he always says that if you want to know his values all you have to do is read the Bible, if there's one guy you'd think would ask himself "What would Jesus do?" it would be Mike Johnson."
"So far, however, it appears he's more likely to ask himself 'What would Trump do?'"
Read the full op-ed at Salon.
