When it took 15 ballots for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to secure the gavel, few gave the new, slender Republican majority much chance of governing successfully.The midterm elections handed Republicans just a nine-seat advantage in the House, with the most fractious members of the Freedom Caucus supplying the margin of victory on any contentious piece of legislation. Activists, and some Republican voters, wanted somebody, anybody, punished for the absence of the red wave. Yet the leadership team across the party, from the House to the Republican National Committee, remained largely intact, leaving many inside the GOP in a bad mood.COVID-19 COULD BE DESANTIS’S SECRET WEAPON AGAINST TRUMP IN 2024A few months later, however, things haven’t been so bad. Republicans have managed to pass legislation that divides Democrats. Some of these measures have made it through the Senate, where Republicans not only lack a majority but actually lost a seat last year. President Joe Biden has even felt the need to assent to a couple of GOP-passed bills, though he has already vetoed one and is at this writing about to issue the second of his presidency.But the biggest test lies ahead. The showdown over the debt ceiling between House Republicans and the Biden White House remains unresolved. Without a solution, the federal government risks default sometime this summer. Even cutting it close could risk a credit downgrade at a time when unemployment is low...