The opening day of a new Congress is usually electric — noisy, celebratory and hopeful. Constituents pack the galleries to watch their hometown heroes being sworn-in for the first time. In the House of Representatives, new members and old swarm the chamber in a mutual, self-congratulatory scrum of handshaking and back-slapping.

For the last two years, though, the opening day scene might as well have been accompanied by the theme song from “The Twilight Zone,” as host Rod Serling intones, "You are now traveling through another dimension of sight, sound and mind."

The joy of a new beginning has been replaced by the somberness of a flailing for leadership and direction amidst intra-party fratricide. The just completed 118th Congress (2023-24) was showing signs of being a harbinger of a repeat scenario as the closing gavel fell, followed immediately by the gavel rap bringing the 119th Congress to order at noon on Jan. 3. All signs pointed to another possible round of multiple ballots to elect a Speaker.

In the 118th Congrerss it took 15 ballots over the first four days of session to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) Speaker. After deals were cut, concessions made, and punitive actions threatened,........

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