Americans Paying the Price for House GOP Chaos

House Republicans have descended into chaos.  And the GOP's total dysfunction isn't just a PR problem – it's threatening American workers and American businesses.  As House Republicans grow ever more consumed by their leadership melodrama, the urgent challenges facing the country go completely ignored by the Republican majority.  From TIME:

In the current House, every bill represents a potential opportunity for the Freedom Caucus to depose the speaker if they are unhappy with the bill he has put forward, which is likely to be the case at least some of the time. If the Speaker puts forwarda bill to continue funding the government, he can be deposed. If [he] tries to avoid a default on the nation's debt, the same outcome is possible once again. The Ex-Im Bank reauthorization, the Federal Aviation reauthorization, tax extenders vital to the business community and a multi-year transportation infrastructure bill: all must-pass items by the end of the year—some, like the debt ceiling by early November. And yet little or no negotiating for a solution on any of these issues is taking place because of the chaos surround the House leadership elections. House Republicans, it would seem, have more than one math problem.

Sadly for the American people, House Republicans are only falling deeper into disarray:

Associated Press: Time of Tumult for House Republicans Seeking New Leadership [10/3]

"It's a tumultuous time for House Republicans, and leadership elections this coming week may only heighten the disarray.

"The upheaval reflects a caucus ever more divided in the week since House Speaker John Boehner stunned Capitol Hill by resigning under conservative pressure. And it comes as a long list of weighty and polarizing issues loom on Congress' agenda, including raising the federal borrowing limit to avoid a market-shattering default, and paying the bills to keep the government running."

POLITICO: GOP Leadership race gets personal [10/5]

"Days away from selecting a new speaker of the House, Republicans are locked in an increasingly personal battle for power, as former allies snipe at one another even as they promise to reform their fractured party…

"Mollifying the loud conservative faction within the Republican Conference is the overwhelming theme of this marathon election."

New York Times: Path to Speaker's Gavel Winds Through Gantlet of Far Right's Demands [10/2]

"The sudden turn of events underscored the fissures in the Republican House conference, as well as the pressure of outside groups and conservative voters in heavily gerrymandered districts."

POLITICO: "There is serious unrest in the House Republican Conference…" [10/4]

The Hill: "House Republicans will huddle behind closed doors Thursday to pick their next Speaker, but there's already a nasty fight brewing over how exactly those elections will be held." [10/4]

In an opinion piece for the New York Times, Historian Geoffrey Kabaservice writes that "The present resurgence of anti-governing conservatism is…likely to end badly for Republicans. The extremists have the ability to disrupt the Congress, but not to lead it."  Unfortunately, the all-out disarray among House Republicans won't just end badly for the Republican Party.  It also promises to end badly for the American people.