Democrats united Tuesday to join a revolt by far-right Republicans to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy after just nine months on the job. No other speaker in U.S. history has ever been voted out, and the unprecedented development has thrown the House into deeper chaos and ground legislation to a halt. Republican Patrick McHenry of North Carolina has taken up the speaker’s gavel temporarily, but who can unite the party’s fractious caucus remains a mystery. “Congress is at a halt, at a standstill,” says Congressmember Ro Khanna, who blames far-right Republicans for being more focused on theatrics than on governing. “There is no effort to actually address the economic issues, the kitchen-table issues that affect the American public.”
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