Liz Cheney for speaker of the House!

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One solution exists to the chaos that rules the U.S. House and is undermining the nation's interests at home and abroad.

Elect Liz Cheney as speaker of the House. Doing so would give Republicans the conservative leadership most of them want while isolating the handful of Donald Trump-inspired extremists who have created the current turmoil. That's a win-win for many Republicans and for the country.

Democrats would also stand to gain.

Cheney election would bring stability to the leadership role. A coalition of those Republicans interested in governing and those Democrats who understand the threat the current gridlock poses to U.S. security would give her a solid foundation of support. Cheney has shown her commitment to principle over politics and has demonstrated a strength of character all too rare in today's politics.

Eventually, of course, enough Republicans may call a cease-fire in their circular firing squad and elect a new speaker on a party vote. Then reality would set in, as the new leader would have to do what brought down ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy — find common ground with Democrats on a federal budget that can win the approval of the Democratic Senate and President Joe Biden.

Dancing with Democrats is the ultimate betrayal of extremist Republican goals. Virginia Rep. Bob Good reflected the feelings of many of his far-right colleagues when he opined that "most Americans wouldn't even miss" government. How can any Republican speaker succeed in an environment in which the most basic responsibility of governing — keeping the lights on — is a sin against the ideology of the party's extreme wing?

Only a speaker with bipartisan support could ignore the bomb-throwers. Yes, a vote for Cheney would inflict on Republicans a torrent of attacks from the Trump mafia. But that's already happening, targeting those who blocked Trump sycophant Rep. Jim Jordan from becoming speaker. A vote for a constitutional conservative, Cheney, who can pass a budget with cuts in domestic spending while approving critical aid for U.S. allies Israel and Ukraine is a pretty good political and policy counter-argument.

For Democrats, it must be tempting to let Republicans stew in a crisis of their own making, especially one that has laid bare the dysfunction and anger of Trumpian government. Certainly, given the state of the world today, the Republican-sponsored chaos would give Democrats a political boost or, at the very least, weaken the prospects of Republicans maintaining House control after November 2024.

But that election is 13 months away. If the country is dragged through a wrenching budget impasse that shuts down government for an extended period of time, if the Mideast explodes in an even larger conflict, if Ukraine falls to Russia, if … if … if … chaos prevails.

No politician is better suited to thrive in chaos than Trump. Voters who are angry, who feel betrayed and who see government as ineffective at best and corrupt at worst aren't likely to embrace the calming Biden over the inflammatory Trump. Democrats may regain the House majority, but would it be worth a second term of Donald Trump and the autocracy he proposes?

Democrats have some leverage in negotiating enough votes to make Cheney the speaker. But even Republicans eager to break the gridlock aren't about to give progressives free reign when it comes to policy.

What might Democrats ask for in return for saving Republicans from themselves? Some starting points:

First and foremost, pass a budget that holds to the spending ceilings agreed to last spring by Biden and McCarthy. The deal agreed to then increases funding for defense and veterans while imposing an automatic reduction in spending on most discretionary government programs if Congress does not pass appropriations bills. The deal isn't perfect (putting budgets on automatic pilot rarely is a good idea), but it does pave the way for federal budgets over the next two years — avoiding government shutdowns — while retaining the authority of Congress to reduce spending further or add money to some programs through the normal appropriations process.

Second, extract an agreement to pass Biden's budget requests for Israel, Ukraine, humanitarian aid and border security. There are enough Republicans in the House (with Democratic support) and in the Senate to get a long-term agreement if the smaller group of GOP opponents aren't allowed to obstruct a deal for their own isolationist politics.

Third, bring some balance to the impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Democrats aren't going to get Republicans to stop the proceedings, and Democrats shouldn't negotiate for that. So far — and this is after four years of Trump's Department of Justice and the last year of House investigations — even the Republicans' hand-picked witnesses testified last month that there is insufficient evidence to support articles of impeachment.

If Democrats negotiated the inquiry away, public skepticism would prevail. Instead, work toward a more fair and transparent process. Democrats could seek another seat or two on the key oversight committee (the GOP now has a five-seat majority, a key advantage), gain more say in calling and examining witnesses and set a firm deadline of early next year to finish the inquiry.

Why should Republicans accept this kind of deal? A budget that hews to the Biden-McCarthy debt ceiling agreement might make it through the Senate and the White House. While it falls short of what GOP hard-liners want, real cuts in government spending give Republicans a meaningful achievement to tout to their political base.

The alternative seems to be only more dysfunction, and that already is hurting Republicans. A survey released Oct. 12 by the national polling firm SSRS found nearly three-quarters of Americans disapprove of the way the GOP's leaders in Congress are handling their jobs (74%, up from 67% in January). More chaos can send those numbers in only one direction.

And if Republicans and Democrats can't agree to find a compromise candidate for speaker for their own self-serving reasons, here's the best reason: Every so often voters deserve to be rewarded by politicians who are willing to do the right thing.

Tom Horner is a public relations consultant and was the Independence Party of Minnesota's 2010 candidate for governor.