Last week, after helping foment the eight-person coup that ended Kevin McCarthy’s 269-day reign as speaker of the United States House of Representatives Matt Gaetz’s signature smirk was everywhere. The 41-year-old Floridia congressman peacocked through a slew of must-see Beltway cable news shows, dancing on McCarthy’s political grave, and generally basking in the brilliance of his successful scheme—one he openly doubted would work just the night before it did.
This week, Gaetz shut up—or, more accurately, he was shut up.
It’s not just Gaetz. All week long, unidentified Republican Party puppet masters have muzzled House members, scrambling to portray unity in the face of the disarray emanating from today’s leaderless House GOP. This includes the rare step of confiscating Republican’s electronic devices in an attempt to prevent leaks in the midst of their secret meetings to pick McCarthy’s replacement.
“I don’t know who keeps talking in real time, because that’s what they’re concerned about,” Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican, tells WIRED.
Nothing seems to be going right for House Republicans. Just ask the party’s handpicked majority leader, Steve Scalise. To the surprise of most, on Thursday night, he bowed out of the speaker race just a day after the majority of the conference tapped him to replace McCarthy. Even after disconnecting members and stopping real-time leaks, a minority of the majority party scuttled Scalise in less than 48 hours. Despite the wishes of party leaders, this revolt isn’t leaving our screens anytime soon.
It’s impossible to mute contemporary lawmakers for very long. The more party leaders try, the more the Republican base erupts with accusations of secret side deals. Still, party leaders are scrambling to regain control—if only momentarily and only in the Capitol’s plethora of backrooms.
“They’re a little either whiplashed or gun shy from the McCarthy stuff. Gaetz and others knew they could blow up the Congress, but they didn’t know how to rebuild it,” David Jolly, a former Florida Republican congressman, tells WIRED. “And in the rebuilding phase, they’re sensitive to some of the negative press and the negative impressions.”
Today’s members of Congress are beholden to their online followings, not some party leader. Even one picked by the overwhelming majority—some 96 percent, in McCarthy’s case—of their peers. Regaining control of the seemingly uncontrollable seems to, once again, be proving a fool’s errand.
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