https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-house-speaker-newt-gingrich-222442043.html
Ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich says he could 'afford to have five or six people be idiots' during standoffs in the 1990s, a contrast to the numerous GOP hardliners creating challenges for McCarthy
The dynamics of what has fueled recent gridlock on Capitol Hill can be boiled down to numbers.
While Democrats retain a slight majority in the Senate, even with the recent passing of Dianne Feinstein of California, House Republicans must contend with a razor-thin 221-213 majority — putting the GOP conference in a precarious position as any major bloc within the party can help pass or scuttle critical pieces of legislation.
The House is a sharply partisan body, as opposed to the more deliberative upper chamber, which has a 60-vote threshold to pass most major bills.
So House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California faced a critical challenge on Saturday as he pushed through a 45-day stopgap spending measure to keep the government funded through November and avert a shutdown, pending Senate approval of the bill by the end of the day.
The measure passed 335-91, with only 126 Republicans backing the bill and 90 voting against.
Earlier attempts to pass a bill with additional spending for Ukraine failed, with many conservatives opposed to increased aid for the the country's ongoing war with Russia.
Most Helpful Opinions