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Kevin McCarthy has promised to fulfill a Commitment to America if Republicans take back the House in November: The American Dream will be revived, he says. The nation will be made safe and free, and everything will get back on the right track. But what would a GOP return to power really look like? One word: Payback.

For all the minority leaders pseudo-inspirational campaign promises, priority number one for a Republican majority appears to be revenge. Not only would McCarthy likely gavel a range of partisan investigations, from inquiries into Hunter Biden to a political probe into the January 6 committee. His majority might also attempt to mount impeachments against President Joe Biden and, according to Semafors Kadia Goba, several other administration officials, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.

Much of this growing vendetta appears to be coming from the furthest right flank, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has already repeatedly pushed for Bidens impeachment. (By her own account, Greene also drafted articles of impeachment last month against Garland following the FBI raid on Donald Trumps Florida home.) But McCarthy has consistently refused to stand up to radicals in his party like Greene, instead coddling them while casting out Trump critics like Liz Cheney. Theres no reason to think he wouldnt continue to do so should he assume the speakership, especially since McCarthy himself teased a Garland probe after the Mar-a-Lago search.

Its fair to assume, then, that a Republican-led House would waste little time getting to work on Trumps behalf. As Politico pointed out Thursday, as much as 60 percent of the GOP caucus next year will have served only since 2017, roughly the beginning of the Trump era. That could mean a majority in the lower chamber that is, at best, barely in touch with Biden and, at worst, harbors an open hostility toward him. Republicans claim thats because the president has made no attempt at outreach across the aisle. McCarthy has been ignored for two years, vilified to some degree, as Republican Representative Tom Cole complained to Politico. I think theyll probably learn to regret that. Of course, that's rich coming from Republicans, when 147 of those on Capitol Hill, including McCarthy, voted against certifying Bidens 2020 victory, even after pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed Congress. Many of them still cant bring themselves to acknowledge Bidens presidency as legitimate, let alone do anything that could be construed as bipartisan. There will be gridlock if Republicans take one or both chambers that much is certain. But itll be hard to blame Biden for it, given the GOP's stated intent to use their power to settle scores on behalf of Trump.

None of this is to say Biden or his administration are or should be above congressional oversight. Members of both parties have raised legitimate questions about, say, the execution of the withdrawal from Afghanistan and its aftermath. But politically motivated impeachments and probes into Trump-backed conspiracy theories have less in common with the congressional inquiries Democrats launched after taking the House in 2018, during Trump's presidency, and more in common with the Republicans ceaseless investigations into Hillary Clinton at the tail end of Barack Obamas presidency. McCarthy doomed his previous shot at the speakership when he essentially admitted, in 2015, that the Benghazi probe was meant, at least in part, to tank Clintons political standing. Seven years later, such acknowledgements have perhaps become the surest path to the gavel.

Before exacting any kind of payback, McCarthys party obviously has to score sweeping wins in midterms first. And while the odds remain in the GOP's favor, there are no guarantees. The GOP has already revised its forecast for the Senate as Democrats continue to build momentum, Republicans struggle with fundraising, and Mitch McConnell frets over candidate quality. The GOP has maintained its optimism about retaking the House, but voter outrage over abortion-rights rollbacks and concerns about the future of democracy could throw a wrench in the party's plans. Could the specter of House Republicans retaliating on behalf of Trump for the next two years be yet another electoral wildcard?

Read more from the original source:
House Republicans Threaten Biden With the Hillary Clinton Treatment - Vanity Fair