There are three headlines that describe most big events in the 117th Congress so far:

(1) “Dems in Disarray”

(2) “Kevin McCarthy Defends Far-Right Member, Who [fill in the blank]”

(3) “Congress Sends Biden Historic Legislation”

Long stretches of Democratic infighting over policy are punctuated by semi-regular acts of extremism by the fringe of the House Republican Conference. And every so often, a massive spending bill ends up on the president’s desk. 

This was supposed to be a “Dems in Disarray” week, but thanks to Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), it turned into a “McCarthy Defends …” week.

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