I spoke to Mike Bender of the New York Times for his piece on the politics of the ongoing Speaker vacuum.

The eight Republicans who voted to oust Mr. McCarthy, for example, are likely to face no backlash for plunging the party into disarray. As their message is amplified across conservative media, they’re more likely to see their political stars rise, with a boost in fund-raising and attention.

“What’s happening is you have people who don’t want to be led, but also want to engineer a situation where they can be betrayed and use that to rail against leadership,” said Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist and former National Republican Senatorial Committee aide.

Read the full piece here.

I spoke to Molly Ball for her Wall Street Journal profile on Rep. Matt Gaetz amid the fallout from the leadership coup he precipitated.

Whether McCarthy is replaced by a similar figure or a more conservative one, Gaetz wins either way, said Liam Donovan, a Republican lobbyist. If a conservative wins it would make Gaetz a hero to the right; otherwise it would further his argument that the D.C. “cartel” is conspiring to frustrate conservatives’ aims. 

“It just sets up the grievance-based grift that powered him to this point,” Donovan said. “Matt Gaetz can’t do anything but win in this situation.”

Read the full piece here.

In a meta twist, Gaetz himself took to his podcast, Firebrand, to weigh in on the profile, including a disconcerting affirmation of my quote.

Relevant clip below:

I spoke to Story Hinckley for her Christian Science Monitor piece on the speaker chaos within the House GOP.

But rather than opposing a temporary speakership on procedural grounds, the departure here between Mr. Jordan’s statement and the responses by “Jordaneers” proves that the Ohio Republican’s speakership fight is a useful instrument in and of itself, says Liam Donovan, a former staffer for the National Republican Senatorial Committee and now a lobbyist.

“Jordan doesn’t want to lose, but if you are Jordan’s backers, you are fine with him losing if you get to kick and scream about the ‘DC cartel’ keeping conservatives from winning,” says Mr. Donovan. “They are setting up options that only fulfill their narrative.”

Read the full piece here.