It’s June. Thanks mostly to disunity within the GOP ranks, there has been no progress on resolving the debt ceiling crisis. Disaster looms.
Kevin McCarthy calls ten GOP House members from Biden districts into his office and asks them to file a discharge petition. He tells them he will have to be bitterly critical of them in public to retain his credibility with the Chaos Caucus, but he will make sure there is no retribution afterwards–no lost committee assignments and no support for primary opponents. The members trust him and go forward as planned. The country is saved.
Does McCarthy keep his word in the aftermath? Probably, but only because he doesn’t want to start telling different lies to different people. That’s a really good way to embarrass yourself and lose credibility with everyone. He should know that better than anyone.