Even House Republicans themselves admit they’ve reached 'an embarrassing new low': columnist

Three weeks after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) was ousted as House speaker, a replacement has yet to be confirmed.

First, Republicans nominated Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana), but he dropped out of the race because he didn't have enough votes to be confirmed. And the next nominee, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), lost three House votes in a row.

As of October 24, eight House Republicans were competing for the position. But there was no guarantee that any of them, if nominated, would be able to reach the 217 votes needed to be confirmed.

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In a biting opinion column published on October 23, MSNBC's Steve Benen laments that even House Republicans themselves are admitting how much of an embarrassment the speaker debacle is.

Benen opens the column by arguing that although Republicans have "fallen on hard times" in the past — from Watergate to the Iraq War — "today's GOP has reached a new low."

"As ugly as Republican politics became in these earlier eras," Benen explains, "the party at least had the capacity to elect its own leaders and bring legislation to the floor. As things stand, the GOP can't even clear this low bar."

The liberal columnist continues, "Indeed, some in the party have been surprisingly candid on this point. Ordinarily, it falls to Democrats to tell voters that Republicans are a dysfunctional mess. Lately, prominent GOP voices have been willing to voluntarily acknowledge this reality on their own."

READ MORE: 'All hope is lost' with Jim Jordan after he 'loses big' on third speaker vote — his worst yet

Benen cites specific examples. McCarthy told NBC News' Kristen Welker that the lack of a House speaker is "embarrassing," and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) told ABC News, "I have to say — and it's my 10th term in Congress — this is probably one of the most embarrassing things I’ve seen."

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) told Fox News that the GOP House majority is "broken" and commented, "We owe the American people an apology."

"To be sure, the candor is welcome, and it's certainly preferable to the lazy and half-hearted efforts we've seen of late to blame Democrats for the Republicans' chaos," Benen comments. "But the acknowledgements of reality don't change the fact that it's difficult to imagine how and when GOP members will elect a new speaker."

READ MORE: Republicans publicly blast Jim Jordan's 'threats and intimidation'

Read Steve Benen's full MSNBC column at this link.