Jonathan Bernstein, Columnist

House Republicans Face New Tests of Their Irrelevance

Impeach the IRS commissioner! Shut down the government! We know how that turns out.

Repeal, replace and ... ha ha ha.

Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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We’re about to see if House Republicans have learned anything in the last few years. That is, we’ll see if the small group of radicals can bully mainstream conservatives into casting irresponsible and counterproductive votes on two measures.

First, the House Freedom Caucus zealots are intent on forcing a vote this week on impeaching the Internal Revenue Service commissioner, John Koskinen. Even if they had a case against him -- and they don’t -- it’s an abuse of their power to go through with an impeachment procedure with no chance for a conviction in the Senate, and with limited time before the end of the current Congress.