Washington, DC – The election for the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives — usually a mere formality — has been particularly exciting this year.
Although Republicans narrowly won the House in the November midterm elections, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy does not have a clear majority to pick up the gavel amid opposition from some members of his own caucus.
So when the incoming Congress meets for the first time on Tuesday, a majority may fail to materialize in favor of the new Speaker of the House. And that, in turn, would practically render the room out of action.
The speaker of the House of Representatives plays an important role in the US government. Speakers not only preside over the lower house of Congress, but they are second only to the presidency, poised to lead the nation in the event the president and vice president are unable to serve.
The last time a Speaker was not elected in the first roll call was exactly 100 years ago. If it happens again on Tuesday, DPR legislators will hold a further round of voting until a candidate can get the needed votes.
Whoever is elected as Speaker has “a huge influence over what kind of legislation and amendments are voted on in Congress,” said Christian Fong, a professor of political science at the University of Michigan. It “gives them a very great deal of control over what becomes law”.
While there was vocal opposition by legislators from both parties to the Speaker’s growing power, Fong predicted a very difficult road for McCarthy.
“It’s a very slim [Republican] majority, so it only takes a small group of determined representatives to really come together and pose a credible threat to prevent the Speaker from being elected,” Fong told Al Jazeera.
How we got here
Republicans have 222 seats in the incoming House — a small majority in the 435-member chamber. With Democrats certain to vote against McCarthy, a handful of Republicans could ensure that she doesn’t get the 218 votes she needs to replace Democratic Chair Nancy Pelosi.
Some far-right Republicans have vowed not to support McCarthy, painting him as a career politician who doesn’t share their populist ideals. This may interest you : Secretary Antony J. Blinken, President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti before the meeting – United States Department of State.
Pelosi herself faces internal opposition when she seeks re-election as Speaker in 2021, with House Democrats also holding a slim majority at the time. Still, he managed to defend the hammer despite two members of his centrist caucus nominating other candidates and three others voting “to attend” as a form of protest.
“One of the reasons you don’t see more opposition to the chairman in the modern era is because the chairman controls all kinds of valuable resources that members of the House so badly want,” said Fong.
“The task of the committee is one good example,” he explained. “Campaign funding is another thing.”
But McCarthy faces the challenge that many of her far-right Republican opponents are “not very keen” on the perks the Speaker can offer, Fong said.
Many of McCarthy’s Republican critics hail from the so-called “safe districts,” where they faced several serious challengers during election season. And some of them have a strong political base, making them less dependent on Speakers for fundraising, media outreach and other assistance.
The initial problems for McCarthy underscore the bigger problem he may face as Speaker: Members with immense power who could threaten to effectively wipe out the Republican majority if they don’t get their way.
McCarthy’s agenda
McCarthy has been negotiating with politicians who oppose her candidacy for Speaker, offering concessions that could undermine her own powers. He has vowed to concentrate right-wing priorities, including investigating the business practices of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden — an issue Democrats reject as a conspiracy theory.
McCarthy, a California Republican, has also asked Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to resign over his handling of migration at the southern border and threatened to investigate and impeach him. To see also : Nuechterlein: As the world changes, so does the United States.
In addition, he vowed to reinstate committee duties from Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was removed from the congressional panel in 2021 over anti-Semitic and Islamophobic comments.
Greene has been one of the few far-right instigators who support his bid to become a speaker.
“If Kevin McCarthy becomes Speaker of the House, it’s because he ceded control of his caucus to Marjorie Taylor Greene and most MAGA Republicans,” the Democrats wrote on Twitter on Monday, using the acronym for “Make America Great Again.”
Still, other conservative Republicans are showing no signs of budging.
“Time to call for a radical departure from the status quo — not a continuation of past and ongoing Republican failures,” a group of nine ultraconservative House members said in a statement on Sunday.
“For someone with 14 years of presence in the senior leadership of the House Republican, Mr. McCarthy shouldered the burden of fixing the dysfunctions he now explicitly acknowledged during that long tenure.”
Florida congressman Matt Gaetz has helped lead far-right dissent against McCarthy, and he accused the Republican leader of “caving in to the liberals” and contributing to his party’s disappointing performance in the November election.
“In sports, when a team loses a game that should have won, the coach is fired. In business, when revenues greatly miss projections, CEOs are replaced,” Gaetz wrote in the conservative publication The Daily Caller last month.
“In Republican politics, promotion must not be a chaser for failure.”
On Monday, politicians in the so-called “never Kevin” camp appeared confident they could thwart McCarthy’s bid to speak. “I can’t believe he’s going to get 218 votes, and I refuse to help him in his quest to get them,” Republican Congressman Andy Biggs wrote on Twitter.
What the GOP rebels want
McCarthy still has hours to get the necessary votes, and his GOP critics have no viable replacement to make up his mind. Read also : Culture and Arts Commission Hears Update on Solstice Canyon Creek Project.
So what is McCarthy’s opponent aiming for?
Fong, the political science professor, said far-right legislators saw an opportunity to strengthen their position and shift power away from the Speaker, allowing them to have a bigger say in the legislative process.
“They see they have real clout to try to make some regulatory changes. They have risked a very difficult bargaining position for themselves,” he said.
Brendan Buck, a communications consultant who previously worked for Republican speakers Paul Ryan and John Boehner, also believes Republican politicians who oppose McCarthy want to weaken — not elect — the next speaker.
“Shame may be the point,” Buck wrote in an essay published in the New York Times on Monday. “Dissident members believe weak talkers will make them stronger. Actually, it won’t benefit anyone.”
