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A history of reconciliation: How Democrats can bridge the political divide to fix the Speakership mess in the House 

Opportunity sometimes knocks twice. House Democrats missed a historic one when they voted to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as Speaker — they could have kept him in his seat in exchange for introducing House rules that encourage bipartisanship. 

With the House in turmoil, Democrats may get a second chance.  

McCarthy says he’s open to being Speaker again. In fact, there’s nothing he’d like better, especially if it means he could escape the grip of the extreme MAGA wing and the House could govern like it’s supposed to. House Democrats could back him, and if he doesn’t deliver, they could always vote to remove McCarthy again. 

There is precedent that makes such a solution plausible. This might be a good time to recall that we have worked out our differences across bitter divides many times in our history: 

We’ve bridged deep partisan divides many times before; we can do it again. Admittedly, today’s divide is wider and more intractable than in the past, because the differences are not about policy. They’re about staying in power at all costs — even smearing the opposition and lying to voters. A lot of damage needs to be repaired. 

The federal government is paralyzed. As former Defense Secretary Robert Gates lamented, Congress hasn’t passed a Defense Appropriations Bill since 2010, and can’t even confirm senior military officials, devastating our military even as we face Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and war in the Middle East. 

Once, Swiss Ambassador Jacques Pitteloud recalled, “When the world was in danger, they looked to the United States for leadership.” But, he said, “they could no longer do that because [America is] so polarized at home fighting over things that didn’t matter.” 

Republican demagoguery has incited violence since Trump’s election. Since 2016, threats against members of Congress and federal judges have skyrocketed. In addition, 15 percent of local elected officials were threatened last year, and threats are rising against election workers

It’s a new low, and it’s all the more reason to invoke our history of political cooperation when it counts. We must stop the slide into dysfunction now. House Democrats can use their votes to reinstate McCarthy as Speaker and help turn the House from partisanship and demagoguery back to the business of governing. 

Neil Baron is an attorney who has represented many institutions involved in the international markets and advised various parts of the federal government on economic issues.