This House Republican majority has experienced a lot of weirdness in recent years. One lawmaker was caught sending shirtless photos to people on Craigslist during a legislative retreat. Another threatened to throw a reporter off a balcony — then landed in prison on an unrelated matter. Earlier this year, one of the party's rising stars redecorated his office in the style of Downton Abbey, then resigned amid allegations he was padding his expense account.

But these past few weeks might be the strangest stretch of all for the House GOP.


Their leader, Speaker John Boehner, resigned a day after he sobbed before Pope Francis.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the affable Californian who was the favorite for Boehner's job, said the committee the party created to investigate the Benghazi attacks was meant to help sink Hillary Clinton's presidential chances. After a week of campaigning, McCarthy ditched his bid rather than face down the same band of right-wing lawmakers that drove Boehner out. Then Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) saw fit to go before 100 of her House Republican colleagues in a closed meeting and allude to rumors she was having an affair with McCarthy. They both say those claims are false.

Finally, to top it off, the man whom party honchos are begging to run for one of the most powerful jobs in Washington — 45-year-old Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin — wants none of it. Ryan’s spokesman, Brendan Buck, spends most of his time these days telling reporters the 2012 vice presidential candidate simply isn’t interested but appreciates the sentiment. When Ryan escaped Congress for a weeklong recess, all he told reporters was that he was looking forward to the Green Bay Packers beating the St. Louis Rams this weekend.

The upshot is that House Republicans, for the time being, will be left with the same speaker several dozen of them just forced out — only in lame-duck form. Which nicely sums up the state of the House GOP Conference: Those who want to be speaker can't line up the votes, and the one person who's popular enough to win is desperate to avoid the job.

Got it?

"We always asked to live in interesting times,” was how Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) described the past few weeks in House Republican politics.

"This was Boehner's plan all along on how he stays speaker," deadpanned Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), one of the speaker's closest friends.

Simpson added: "This is why Congress has a 6 percent or 8 percent [approval rating]. It's not because we're not enacting the agenda that the right wing wants, which is kind of crazy anyway. That's not it. The public sees a dysfunctional Congress."

That would be one way of putting it.

With Ryan demurring, literally dozens of lawmakers have been floated — or floated themselves — for the speaker’s job. Yet it’s not clear if any of them have support. Here’s a short list: Reps. Lynn Westmoreland (Ga.), Conaway, Peter Roskam (Ill.), Tom Cole (Okla.), John Kline (Minn.), Darrell Issa (Calif.), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Jeff Miller (Fla.), Bill Flores (Texas) and Pete Sessions (Texas). That’s 4 percent of the House Republican Conference.

As the House GOP tries to pick up the pieces, it’s about to confront some harrowing policy challenges. The nation will reach its borrowing limit within a month. If Congress fails to act, the United States will default for the first time ever on its $18 trillion-plus debt. A month later, the federal government will shut down unless Republicans cut a spending deal with President Barack Obama.

Against that backdrop, the largest Republican House majority since Herbert Hoover’s presidency will head home for a week-long recess, leaderless and rudderless. There are no plans to set a leadership election date. In fact, there are no plans at all.

The internal GOP disarray is playing out in other ways.

The Export-Import Bank, which conservatives successfully shuttered over the summer, may soon open again. Why? Because 41 Republicans snuck onto the House floor Friday to join with Democrats in forcing a floor vote on reviving the bank. In other words, for the first time in more than 13 years, the minority — this time, Democrats — succeeded in bringing up legislation over the objections of the Republican majority.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) complained that the move put "Speaker Nancy Pelosi" back in charge. Dozens of his Republican colleagues begged to differ, worried more about potential job losses than right-wing purity tests.

"What it means is we can't let 30 or 40 members hold the Congress hostage," said Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), who has complained openly about the "crazies" who forced out Boehner. The situation in the Republican conference "is bad. It looks bad, no matter how you try to define it."

Some people are just exasperated. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who once was so worked up over a Republican colleague's position on government surveillance that he dubbed him “Al Qaeda’s best friend in the Congress” — has been rendered speechless by the past few weeks in the House.

"I think I am lost for words right now," Nunes said Friday. "I don't have anything to say."

Anna Palmer contributed to this report.