GOP 'Young Guns' Are Out of Ammo. Time for New House Leadership | Opinion

It wasn't exactly the "shot heard 'round the world." But when Dave Brat defeated Eric Cantor, the then-House majority leader and second-highest-ranking House Republican, in a shocking upset primary win on June 10, 2014, it was unmistakably the opening salvo in another war. This war was not a fight for a new nation but for new leadership—the leadership of the House Republicans in the post-Tea Party era.

It's been over eight years now since Brat took down Cantor. In that time, the Trump administration has come, gone, and could come back. But the war is still raging. The Tea Party Republicans, many of whom now refer to themselves as America First Republicans, have won some battles. One by one, they've picked off the "Young Guns"—the self-appointed trio of Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor, and Kevin McCarthy who published a book calling themselves a "new generation of conservative leaders."

Except they weren't that. After the 2010 red wave, it quickly became apparent to millions of disappointed Republicans that these men were neither conservatives nor leaders. The trio rallied behind Ohio moderate John Boehner for House speaker, pledged their allegiance, and dutifully fell in line for their cushy regime appointments.

From then on, Boehner, McCarthy, Cantor, and Ryan moved not from strength to strength but from compromise to compromise, selling out the base at just about every turn. Over and over, they cut deals with President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to keep the gravy trains running. They folded on immigration, debt ceilings, sequestration—you name it.

Finally, after four years of disappointments, a singular congressional district, Virginia's Seventh, said enough is enough. Brat, an economics professor at a local college, running on America-first immigration and trade policies, took down Cantor.

Reporting for the New York Times, Jonathan Martin wrote:

The result delivered a major jolt to the Republican Party — Mr. Cantor had widely been considered the top candidate to succeed Speaker John A. Boehner — and it has the potential to change both the debate in Washington on immigration and, possibly, the midterm elections.

Cantor's loss sent Washington into shock. And in many ways, it was a preview of an even greater shock to come: the triumph of Donald Trump.

After the 2014 midterms, the House Freedom Caucus formed, and would serve as a conservative and populist thorn in the side of Speaker Boehner for his remaining time in office.

While not one of the Young Guns, Boehner was very much their head. And he was the next to go. On July 28, 2015, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) filed a motion to vacate the chair, a move designed to force a vote for a new speaker. Boehner, realizing there was nothing to be done, chose to resign proactively.

After Boehner's resignation, many thought Kevin McCarthy would be a shoo-in for the speaker spot. That was until he abruptly withdrew his name from consideration. In his surprise announcement, McCarthy said, "We need a fresh face" and "With his wife at his side, he said his decision was about promoting unity. 'If we're going to unite and be strong, we need a new face to help do that. So nothing more than that.'" Prophetic words.

Another Young Gun was down but not out. In his place, Paul Ryan (apparently reluctantly) rose to the top. Ryan became Speaker of the House on October 29, 2015. The neocons were finally king of the Hill.

As speaker, Ryan worked against Trump in the Republican presidential primary process. But Trump powered on to victory; in a surprisingly magnanimous turn, he backed Ryan for speaker again in 2017.

Ryan retook the helm, only to bail early in the midterm, announcing he would retire after 2018. So much for "new leadership." Republicans went on to lose control of the House in those midterms. They lost again in 2020. But now, finally, after securing a majority in 2022, they are poised to regain the speaker's gavel when Congress reconstitutes in January of 2023 for the 118th Congress. And yet again, the speakership hangs in the balance.

Who will take it? Cantor is gone. Boehner is gone. Ryan is gone. And good riddance. But one last Young Gun is still desperately reaching for that gavel. McCarthy is clamoring for the chance to finally wield the political power he has so profoundly desired since being first elected in 2006.

If House Republicans are smart, if they listen to their constituents, and if they put America first, they will tell him "no." They will deny him the gavel once and for all, ending the failed Young Gun experiment for good.

As it stands, McCarthy knows he doesn't have the votes. Nor should he. Daniel Horowitz rightly notes that McCarthy "has overseen the failed GOP bouts in the majority ever since as both majority leader and whip. Now he wants a promotion after failing to deliver on a 'first and goal' play this election." Furthermore, as Horowitz, documented in his article, "McCarthy passed budget bills with Dem support during Trump years"

Every single major budget bill that passed under McCarthy's leadership as floor leader of the last GOP House, which was when the GOP controlled the trifecta and commanded full stewardship over the policies, was passed with more Democrat support than Republican support.

Russ Vought, president of the Center for Renewing America, has called for a "paradigm-shifting" speaker to take over. McCarthy is the furthest thing from this, representing more of the same-old, same-old uniparty system that has put the interest of the D.C. beltway cartel over their heartland constituents for decades.

The Tea Party wave that delivered the House to Republicans in 2010 crashed into the disappointing figures of Cantor, Ryan, Boehner, and McCarthy. That frustration, stymied, stewing, and boiling over, both with the future of our country and the feckless leadership of congressional Republicans, reconstituted into the America-first phenomenon that put Donald Trump in the White House. Despite this lesson, too many House Republicans seem intent on returning to the failed ways of the McCarthy system.

With two years left in the failed Biden administration, House Republicans must choose wisely. There is no room for error and no justification for furthering the status quo. They must pick a paradigm-shifting speaker who will use every single lever of power available to deliver results—and justice—for the American people suffering under the heavy hand of the D.C. uniparty and its figurehead, President Joe Biden. Maybe McCarthy had the juice for such a job in years past, but there's no question about it now—he is not ready for this fight, nor is he the man for this moment.

House Republicans shouldn't give McCarthy a promotion. In January they should send this final Young Gun out to pasture instead. McCarthy was right in 2015, and he's still right today: House Republicans need a fresh face. It's time for a new speaker. The House Republican Conference will be better for it—and the country will be too.

William Wolfe is a 10-plus-year veteran of the conservative movement, having worked for three different Members of Congress, at Heritage Action, and in the Trump administration at the State Department and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon. He is now a visiting fellow at the Center for Renewing America.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.