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TITLE: None of this is to say that Speaker McCarthy is above reproach. Another flaw with the motion- to-vacate gambit, though, is that there’s no good alternative. Even Gaetz, the ringmaster of his own circus, isn’t touting anyone else — and for a reason. There’s no one who would obviously do a better job. There’s no one who represents a different philosophical disposition.

With a slender majority and Democrats in control of the Senate and the White House, House Republicans inevitably have limited leverage, and Speaker of the House is inherently a thankless job in these circumstances. It requires corralling a fractious caucus, some members of which will never be satisfied, at a time when there’s a premium on being bombastic and recalcitrant.

And then, there’s the fact that whoever is Speaker has to deal with Matt Gaetz. And who would want to do that?

Rich Lowry is editor of the National Review.

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