Fools on the Hill: The Hooligans, Saboteurs, Conspiracy Theorists, and Dunces Who Burned Down the House

A Republican majority dominated by MAGA zealots has made the House of Representatives a cesspool of “incompetence,” “chaos,” savage infighting, and racism, according to this jaundiced history of the 118th Congress. Washington Post columnist Milbank (The Destructionists) calls the current House session “the most ineffective... in nearly a century,” with no significant legislative accomplishments but plenty of pernicious right-wing distractions. These include vicious battles over the House speakership that forced speakers Kevin McCarthy and Mike Johnson to bend to the far-right’s demands, which brought the government close to defaulting on the national debt; a fixation on “culture war” issues like transgender athletes in women’s sports; efforts to impeach President Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas despite there being no crimes to charge them with; and endless investigations of trumped-up controversies from Hunter Biden’s laptop to allegations that the Pentagon is covering up the presence of extraterrestrials. Milbank paints a lurid group portrait of congressional Republicans as a menagerie of liars and reprobates (New York congressman George Santos is the champion here) and ably skewers the party’s crazy rhetoric, feckless wrangling, and sheer tawdriness. More invective than analysis, this recap of conservative absurdities and outrages will galvanize Milbank’s liberal readership. (Sept.)