Friday began with House conservatives holding a press conference to trash the $1.2 trillion spending bill their leaders negotiated with Democrats, sparking some fears about its prospects.
It squeaked through — requiring 67% of the House, it ended up winning 68% — but a majority of Republicans voted against it.
It was just the first headache of the day for House Republicans as they adjourned for a two-week recess, offering a distillation of the infighting and disenchantment that continues to plague the party 15 months into its narrow majority. Things were about to get worse.
Moments later, far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., shocked her colleagues by filing a motion to overthrow Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., blasting his stewardship of the chamber and threatening renewed turmoil at the helm of her party.
That’s not necessarily true- direct democracy isn’t the same a representative democracy, for example. Also, a very strong case can be made that the US functionally isn’t a democracy, since one political party wields outsized amounts of power compared to “the will of the people.” A “true” democracy wouldn’t allow a President who lost the popular vote, or require a party to get 60%+ of the popular vote to get barely 50% members in Congress.
And yes, I realize the idea that requiring voters to be informed on issues and government opens the door to suppression of voters for illegitimate reasons. I don’t know what would be a more ideal solution, but I do know that this
is a big chunk of the problem. A functioning government requires an invested and educated populace, and too many Americans aren’t.