Julia Louis-Dreyfus jokes the House speaker debacle is straight out of Veep

The Emmy winner has some thoughts on Rep. Kevin McCarthy's failed bids to become speaker.

If Rep. Kevin McCarthy continues to fail in his bid to become House speaker, he might be able to pivot to a gig on HBO.

The GOP-led House of Representatives has been in shambles for the last three days, as Rep. McCarthy of California has lost multiple bids for the speakership. (As of this writing, he just lost attempt no. 7.) And if you've been watching this chaos unfold in our nation's capital and thinking it reminds you of a certain Emmy-winning HBO show, you're not the only one. Julia Louis-Dreyfus went on Instagram to poke fun at the messy election process, comparing McCarthy's many failed bids to an episode of Veep.

"If we don't win an Emmy for this episode of @veephbo I'm leaving the TV Academy," Louis-Dreyfus wrote.

Kevin McCarthy, Veep
Rep. Kevin McCarthy and 'Veep' star Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Colleen Hayes/HBO

To be fair, Louis-Dreyfus is an expert on political nonsense. The 61-year-old actress won six consecutive Emmys for her role as Veep's inept vice president Selina Meyer, and the show ran for seven years, concluding in 2019.

Meanwhile, in the real world, the House just kicked off its third day of deadlock. The GOP holds a majority in the House, and McCarthy was nominated as speaker back during a closed-door vote in November. But per House rules, a candidate needs to receive at least 218 votes to be elected speaker — a number McCarthy has repeatedly failed to clear.

Until a speaker is elected, the House is essentially at a standstill, unable to conduct business or even swear in new members. It's the first time in 100 years that the House has failed to elect a speaker on the first vote.

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