It’s easy for Democrats to indulge in schadenfreude as House Republicans struggle to perform the first task of their new, narrow majority – electing a speaker. Early this week, a House Democrat mocked Republicans by tweeting a picture of himself holding a bag of popcorn.

But this is no laughing matter. At press time, after 13 rounds of voting, the House still had no speaker, and thus no ability to conduct business – no seated members, no right to pass legislation, no classified national security briefings, no government oversight.

On the plus side for the top House Republican, Kevin McCarthy of California: In Friday’s first vote, he came close to the majority needed to become speaker after making concessions to hard-liners, including allowing any single member to force a vote on ousting the speaker. But he still fell short.

That Friday’s fraught proceedings took place on the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 siege of the Capitol was lost on no one. That day of infamy became a violent scene that gripped the nation, as supporters of then-President Donald Trump attempted to prevent the counting of electoral votes confirming Joe Biden’s presidential victory.

Two articles in today’s Monitor Daily explore the continuing aftermath of the riot: one on the Capitol Police, the other on the trials of Jan. 6 participants.

Meanwhile, the next House speaker could be heading for the mother of all challenges: preventing a default on the national debt as the United States reaches the legal limit of its borrowing authority. The ideological clashes in today’s House drama will inform that process. Republicans are expected to try to force spending cuts before agreeing to raise the debt ceiling. The next speaker will have little room for maneuver, amid profound implications for the global economy.

Already, the days of Democrat Nancy Pelosi’s speakership – and her ability to “herd cats” – feel distant.

“I’m not sure Republicans are the same breed of cats as Democrats,” observes Gail Russell Chaddock, retired Monitor congressional correspondent. “Trump made feral popular in GOP ranks.”

Still, hope for bipartisanship is not lost. President Biden’s appearance with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky on Wednesday, touting infrastructure spending, made that evident.