The Atlantic

Republicans Grapple With the Risk of Overreach

The GOP launched the 115th Congress with an embarrassing misstep on ethics.
Source: J. Scott Applewhite / AP

“Let us not be timid,” Paul Ryan exhorted members of the House on Tuesday, moments after 239 Republicans had, in near-unanimous fashion, re-elected him as speaker. He was girding his party for what he called “the opportunity of a lifetime”—the chance to remake Washington under President-elect Donald Trump and unified Republican control of government.

Ryan needn’t have worried about his members’ gumption: They had committed their first act of political overreach before the 115th Congress was even sworn in.

The night before, a majority of House Republicans to gut the from Trump, Republican lawmakers hastily reconvened barely five minutes before the 115th Congress gaveled into session.

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