We Need to Talk About Kevin  —  News and notes on the local political tragedy under the dome.  —  Yes, it was supposed to be bad for Kevin McCarthy, but not this bad.  —  As anyone who has been reading my dispatches since September well knows, McCarthy's speakership only ever seemed fully …

Speaker Fight Reveals a Divided and Disoriented House Majority  —  In failing to coalesce around Kevin McCarthy for speaker, Republicans showcased divisions that portend real difficulties in governing.  —  WASHINGTON — House Republicans on Tuesday began their new majority rule with a chaotic …

POLITICO Playbook: How long can McCarthy hang on?  —  Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  So how does this end?  And how long will it take to end it?  —  Those are the questions towering over the new House Republican majority …

Karl Rove: House speaker saga is an ‘unmitigated disaster’ for Republicans  —  Former White House adviser Karl Rove predicted that the inability of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to secure the speakership is likely just the beginning of the chaos.  —  McCarthy's worst fears came true Tuesday …

Biden world both humored and terrified by McCarthy meltdown  —  Staff throughout the West Wing wouldn't cop to watching live coverage of Rep. Kevin McCarthy failing to get enough votes to become speaker of the House.  But, to a person, they were more than aware of the fiasco that was unfolding …

Never Trumpers Understood Kevin McCarthy's Conference Better Than He Did  —  Who could possibly have predicted that the leopards would eat My Kevin's face, too?  —  For years Kevin McCarthy, a blow-dried, donor-class Republican, has tried to maintain a hold on his increasingly bedraggled …

What happens if there's no House speaker  —  The longest House speaker election in history spanned two months and took 133 ballots — providing a warning sign for the 118th Congress. … - Members of the 118th Congress can't be sworn in, the House can't set rules to govern itself …

Kevin McCarthy's Loyalty to Trump Got Him Nothing  —  High-level politics is fundamentally about dealmaking.  You can't succeed as anything more than a back-bencher if you aren't willing to make a deal with almost anyone on almost anything.  In Faust, a deal with the devil is fatal; on Capitol Hill, it's how you survive.

1/4/23 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM … THE HOUSE WILL GAVEL IN AT NOON.  IF THERE'S BEEN PROGRESS TOWARD A DEAL, GOP LEADERS WILL MOVE FOR ANOTHER VOTE FOR SPEAKER.  IF NOT, THEY WILL NEED TO TRY TO ADJOURN AGAIN UNTIL LATER IN THE DAY OR EVEN THURSDAY.

George Santos had an awkward first day at the office  —  The New York Republican, accused of fabricating details of his biography, got a taste of scrutiny that comes with his new job  —  On Tuesday, looking very much like a freshman at a prep school in hell, congressman-elect George Santos wore …