Economist Paul Krugman slams 'weak leader' Kevin McCarthy’s 'desperate efforts' to appease right-wingers

Economist Paul Krugman, in an op-ed published Thursday by the New York Times, slammed Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for his inability to head off Republican “dysfunction" as a government shutdown looms.

“The speaker’s job isn’t defined, but surely it includes passing legislation that keeps the federal government running,” Krugman wrote. “But Kevin McCarthy, the current speaker, isn’t doing that job.”

Comparing McCarthy to his “formidable predecessor” Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Krugman called McCarthy “a weak leader.”

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“But even a superb leader would probably be unable to transcend the dynamics of a party that has been extremist for a generation but has now gone beyond extremism to nihilism,” Krugman said.

To be clear, according to Krugman, “this is a Republican problem.”

“Any talk about dysfunction in ‘Congress,’ or ‘partisanship,’ simply misinforms the public,” Krugman explained.

Krugman noted the shutdown fight “didn’t happen under Pelosi, even though she also had a very narrow majority,” and compared McCarthy’s effort to the 1995-95 shutdowns during former Speaker New Gingrich’s tenure.

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“McCarthy, in his desperate efforts to appease his party’s hard-liners, has acted as if [the GOP] refusal to approve federal funding is a Gingrich-like demand for reduced federal spending,” Krugman said.

Describing the right-wing intensity of some of the GOP members, Krugman wrote:

I liked what one representative told Politico: “Some of these folks would vote against the Bible because there’s not enough Jesus in it.” The point is that the party’s right wing isn’t actually interested in governing; it’s all about posturing, and the budget fight is a temper tantrum rather than a policy dispute.

“If the GOP were anything like a normal party, McCarthy would give up on the right-wingers, gather up the saner Republican representatives and make a deal with Democrats.” Krugman added. “But that would almost surely cost him the speakership, and in general more or less the whole GOP is terrified of the hard-liners, so the party’s positions end up being dictated by its most extreme faction."

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Krugman noted if a shutdown does happen, history suggests “the public would blame Republicans." But, he wondered, “how does this end” if the GOP fails to “make a deal that reopens the government.”

“It’s not clear that McCarthy, or whoever replaces him if he’s overthrown, would be willing or even able to” reopen it, Krugman warned.

Read the full op-ed at the New York Times.