WSJ: Rebellion that took down McCarthy was more than a decade in the making

The vote to oust Kevin McCarthy as House speaker took only about an hour. But it was just the latest act in a rebellion among conservative lawmakers and voters that has been unfolding for 13 years—one that has promoted and then discarded the past three Republican speakers.

The tea party revolt of 2010, which gave Republicans a House majority and set McCarthy on his path to power, was fueled by voter anger at government bailouts after the financial crisis and at then-President Barack Obama’s healthcare program. But it also gave early hints of the populist impulses and eagerness to discard political norms that later gave rise to President Donald Trump.

ROKK Solutions Co-Founder and Partner, Ron Bonjean, discussed how populism had a lot to do with emboldening certain members of Congress in The Wall Street Journal.