Former U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) was hired last week by the software company Palantir Technologies, after departing Congress earlier this year.
In an op-ed published by The Washington Post Tuesday, columnist David Ignatius, who recently interviewed the former GOP lawmaker, explains why Gallagher's exit is "a case study in what’s broken in national politics — and maybe how to fix it."
Although "very conservative," Ignatius notes that Gallagher "fears that conservative values aren’t the defining point for Republicans any longer."
He told the columnist: "How conservative you are can’t be measured by loyalty to the party or the president."
Ignatius notes that Gallagher left Congress following "a cruel hoax" claiming that the ex-congressman "had been shot in the face and that his wife and two young daughters" were being held hostage in December of last year.
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That incident "proved to be a breaking point" for the former Wisconsin lawmaker, Ignatius emphasizes.
Gallagher really knew it was time for him to go when he didn't vote for the GOP-led impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
"Gallagher’s exit says that "Congress in the age of Trump is becoming a toxic echo chamber. Members and their families are targets of extremist rage," Ignatius writes.
However, "The arc of Gallagher’s career illustrates several things that matter in this election year," the columnist continues. "First, despite all the bickering, bipartisanship is still possible. Gallagher led a select panel on China that developed nearly 150 bipartisan recommendations for legislation helping the United States to compete more effectively with Beijing."
Gallagher also understands that infighting and insulting gets Congress nowhere.
"We’ve turned Congress into a ‘green room’ for Fox News and MSNBC, instead of being the key institution of government," he told Ignatious. "Being a bomb-thrower on TV or crapping on my colleagues has never interested me."
Ignatius emphasized, "Thinking about Gallagher reminds me that politics is a character test — not just of the candidates but of the system itself. If good people leave Congress or don’t run for office at all, we’ll get legislators who are coarser and more extreme — creatures of this broken process."
Ignatius' full report is available at this link (subscription required).
