One of the most important jobs in American politics has turned into a nightmare

Winning a majority party’s nomination for speaker of the House of Representatives usually elevates a lawmaker into the pantheon of American political leaders.

But such is the toxicity of the GOP three weeks after the ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy that the nominee expected to emerge on Tuesday may never get the top job.

The nomination is an assignment to what may be an impossible political mission to unite a conference that might never be reconciled. And even if the nominee wins the gavel, the next speaker has a reasonable chance of a tenure even shorter than McCarthy, who lasted nine months.

But this is about more than the plight of a Republican Party that often looks like it’s tearing itself apart. If the dysfunctional House GOP majority cannot get its act together, the US government could run out of funding before Thanksgiving week – and millions of Americans could pay the price.

As lawmakers returned to Washington on Monday, there was a growing sense of rising public frustration about a House that has been paralyzed for three weeks, as global crises boil and the shutdown deadline approaches.

Florida Rep. Vern Buchanan said his constituents “think all of us are incapable.” Buchanan, who is supporting fellow Sunshine State lawmaker Byron Donalds for speaker, added: “People are very angry and upset.”

Eight hopefuls are expected to line up on Tuesday in a secret ballot as the party tries to pick a nominee, following the failures of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan to replace McCarthy. The candidates made their pitches to a meeting of the party conference on Monday night. But while one candidate is expected to emerge from secret balloting, there is no guarantee he will be able to get the required majority in the full House – given the extreme splits in the GOP between some of the far-right…