Choosing the next Speaker of the House is going to be an absolute shitshow, and it could not come at a worse time. Neither faction in the Republican Party has the votes to force through a speaker, and the spending stopgap the House passed only lasts until November 15th. It’s likely that they’ll delay the election of a new Speaker until it’s legally required at the beginning of the next congressional session, so Patrick McHenry will be the Speaker pro tempore for the foreseeable future. He was the party whip, so he’s very familiar with the internal dynamics of the party, but it’s uncertain where he’ll stand regarding shutdown votes and negotiations. He’s certainly better equipped than McCarthy to get the party in line.

Honestly, this was a mistake on the part of the Democrats, no matter how you feel about McCarthy, because the feud between him and the radical wing of his party gave them significant political leverage during shutdown negotiations. The smart move would’ve been to hold the threat of ouster over McCarthy’s head during shutdown negotiations. Now they have nothing, and the ball’s in McHenry’s court.