How the Republican civil war in the House could end

JOHN MCCAIN, the late senator from Arizona, liked to joke that the approval rating for America’s Congress had fallen so low that legislators could expect support only from “paid staffers and blood relatives”. McCain’s old line seemed closer to reality than hyperbole as the House began its third week without a speaker. Yet, unlikely as it seems, good legislation still has a chance to pass despite the House Republicans’ dysfunction.Jim Jordan, a hard-right Ohio congressman, became speaker-designate on October 13th after Steve Scalise, the number two House Republican, gave up. But Mr Jordan fell short during a full House vote on October 17th. He lost even more support in the second round of voting. The top job always seemed an odd fit for a conservative firebrand like Mr Jordan. A former Republican speaker once called him a “legislative terrorist”, and after nearly 17 years on Capitol Hill the Ohioan had yet to be the primary sponsor of a bill that became law.