The House Republican caucus is ground zero for MAGA zealotry. Come January, they'll run the place

The other shoe has fallen. Democrats improbably protected their majority in the Senate, but on Wednesday night, it became clear they would not do the same in the House. The Associated Press has now called enough House races for Republicans that, come January, they’ll control Congress’ lower chamber. The death knell for Democrats’ majority came in California, where, in the 27th district, Republican Rep. Mike Garcia’s won his race against a Democratic challenger.

GOP control of the House erases President Biden’s chances of passing major legislation. Instead, the chamber will likely serve as a staging ground for Republicans’ most extreme right-wing crusades — including a nonstop effort to boost the 2024 GOP presidential nominee

The victory tees up House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to succeed Nancy Pelosi as House speaker. McCarthy wasn’t exactly a favorite of the MAGA contingent and vehemently condemned the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol its immediate aftermath. He’s since come around to embrace the extremism and conspiracy theorizing that defines the party. He told CNN on earlier this month that Marjorie Taylor Greene will sit on committees in the new Congress, despite the House voting last year to kick her off of them for her violent, bigoted, and conspiratorial views — which McCarthy’s office at the time said were “deeply disturbing.”

Trump expressed his support for McCarthy earlier this month. “I will absolutely back Kevin,” he said. “Kevin and I have worked closely together.”

McCarthy and other Republicans have also indicated that aid to Ukraine could be a thing of the past if they get control of the House, and that they could attempt to rework the federal debt limit in order to slash social services. “You can’t just continue down the path to keep spending and adding to the debt,” McCarthy said recently, according to Punchbowl News.

The prospect of House committees being taken over by Republicans is terrifying, and will likely lead to several bogus investigations into everyone from Hunter Biden, to Dr. Anthony Fauci, to Attorney General Merrick Garland. Greene and others have also vowed to impeach President Biden. It’s not clear for what, exactly, although Rolling Stone reported last week that Trump has been calling Republicans to ask if they’re going to impeach his successor — and “how many” times they might do so.

It’s going to be an extremely long, deeply frustrating two years.