WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (Reuters) – Republican Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives early on Saturday, after making sweeping concessions to far-right hardliners who raised questions about the party’s ability to govern.
The 57-year-old Californian suffered a final humiliation when Rep. Matt Gaetz withheld his vote on the 14th ballot as midnight approached, prompting a scuffle in which Republican Mike Rogers had to be physically pulled away.
McCarthy’s victory on the 15th ballot ended the deepest congressional dysfunction in over 160 years. But it starkly illustrated the difficulties he will face in leading a narrow and deeply polarized majority.
He eventually won by a margin of 216-212. He was able to be elected with the votes of fewer than half of the House members only because six in his own party withheld their votes—not endorsing McCarthy for leader, but also not voting for another candidate.
Taking the gavel for the first time, McCarthy represented the end of President Joe Biden’s Democratic hold on both houses of Congress.
“Our system is built on checks and balances. It’s time for us to be a check and provide some balance to the president’s policies,” McCarthy said in his inaugural address, which laid out a wide range of priorities from cutting spending to immigration, to fight culture wars.
McCarthy was elected only after agreeing to a demand by hardliners that any lawmaker could call for his removal at any time. That would sharply cut the power he will have as he tries to pass legislation on critical issues, including funding the government, addressing the nation’s looming debt ceiling and other crises that may arise.
Republicans’ weaker-than-expected performance in November’s midterm elections gave them a narrow 222-212 majority, handing overpower to the far right opposed to McCarthy’s leadership.
Those concessions, including sharp spending cuts and other limits on McCarthy’s powers, could point to further turbulence in the months ahead, especially when Congress must sign off on a further increase in the US borrowing authority of $31.4 trillion.
Over the past decade, Republicans have repeatedly shut down large parts of the government and pushed the world’s largest borrower to the brink of default in attempts to extract deep spending cuts, usually without success.
Several of the hardliners have questioned McCarthy’s willingness to engage in such brinkmanship when negotiating with Biden, whose Democrats control the Senate. They have clashed in the past when Senate Republicans led by Mitch McConnell agreed to compromise deals.
Hardliners, also including Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Chip Roy of Texas, said concessions they extracted from McCarthy would make it easier to pursue such tactics — or force another vote on McCarthy’s leadership if he doesn’t deliver to their expectations.
“You have changes in how we’re going to spend and distribute money that are going to be historic,” Perry said.
“We don’t want pure debt ceilings to just go through and just keep paying the bill without some countervailing effort to control spending when Democrats control the White House and control the Senate.”
One of those Democrats, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, warned that the concessions McCarthy made to the “extremists” in his party could come back to haunt him, making it more likely that the Republican-controlled House will lead to a government shutdown or default. with “devastating consequences”.
In sharp contrast to the battles among House Republicans, Biden and McConnell appeared together in Kentucky on Wednesday to highlight investment in infrastructure.
McCarthy’s belated victory came the day after the two-year anniversary of an attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, when a violent mob stormed Congress in an attempt to overturn then-President Donald Trump’s election loss.
This week’s 14 failed ballots marked the highest number of ballots for the speakership since 1859, in the turbulent years before the Civil War.
McCarthy’s last bid for speaker, in 2015, crumbled in the face of right-wing opposition. The two former Republican speakers, John Boehner and Paul Ryan, left the job after conflict with right-wing colleagues.
McCarthy now has the authority to block Biden’s legislative agenda, force votes for Republican priorities on the economy, energy and immigration and move forward with investigations into Biden, his administration and his family.
CONCESSIONS
But the concessions he agreed to mean McCarthy will have significantly less power than his predecessor, Democrat Nancy Pelosi. To see also : $89 Million in New Humanitarian Relief Aid for Ukraine – US State Department. That will make it difficult for him to agree to deals with Democrats in a divided Washington.
Allowing a single member to request a vote to remove the speaker would give hardliners extraordinary leverage.
The agreement will limit spending for the next financial year to last year’s levels – which amounts to a significant cut when inflation and population growth are taken into account.
That could face opposition from more centrist Republicans or those who have pushed for greater military funding, especially as the United States spends billions of dollars to help Ukraine fend off a Russian attack.
Moderate Republican Brian Fitzpatrick said he was not concerned that the House would effectively be run by hardliners.
“It’s ambitious,” he told reporters. — We still have our voting cards.
Reporting by David Morgan, Moira Warburton and Andy Sullivan; Additional reporting by Gram Slattery, Jason Lange and Makini Brice, writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone, Cynthia Osterman, William Mallard and Daniel Wallis
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Can Speaker of the House be an MP?
Apart from duties related to presiding over the House, the Speaker also performs administrative and procedural functions. In addition, they remain a constituency Member of Parliament (MP), are part of the Privy Council and represent the Commons before the monarch, the House of Lords and other authorities.
Can a non-member of Congress be Speaker of the House? Since the Constitution does not explicitly state that the Speaker must be a sitting member of the House, it is arguably possible for a non-member to be elected. In the past, representatives have voted for someone who was not then a member of the house. This may interest you : Biden to promote US infrastructure spending in bipartisan Kentucky visit. However, every person elected speaker has been a member.
Is the Speaker of the House an officer?
Elected speaker elected from among the members Article I, section 2 of the constitution mandates that the house elects its speaker and other officers. On the same subject : Speaker warns: global forces want to create united states of Europe. The Speaker is the only House officer who has traditionally been elected from the sitting membership of the House.
Who can be a speaker of the House?
Who is the longest-serving speaker of the House?
The longest serving speaker was Sam Rayburn – 17 years, 53 days. Elected 10 times, he led the House three times: from September 1940 to January 1947; January 1949 to January 1953; and January 1955 to November 1961.
Has the speaker of the house ever had to be president? First Speaker to Serve as President James K. Polk of Tennessee was the first (and only) speaker to serve as president.
How long did the longest-serving speaker of the Assembly serve?
Longest-serving Speaker of the House: Samuel Rayburn of Texas served as Speaker for a total of 17 years, two months and two days.
What is the longest someone has served in the House of Representatives?
With more than 59 years of service, Representative John Dingell, Jr., of Michigan, holds the record for longest continuous service.
Who was the last Republican speaker of the House?
BOEHNER, John Andrew. United States House of Representatives: History, Art and Archives.
What man had the shortest term as Speaker of the House?
On the last day of the 40th Congress, Theodore Pomeroy of New York became Speaker of the House for one day—the shortest term of service for a speaker on record.
Who was the longest serving speaker of the House of Representatives? Longest-serving Speaker of the House: Samuel Rayburn of Texas served as Speaker for a total of 17 years, two months and two days.
How long is the term for speaker of the House?
The term ends at the expiration of the Congress in which he was elected, unless he has resigned, died, or been removed from office. Deschler Ch 6 Sec. 2. During the 104th through the 107th Congresses, the Speaker’s term was limited to four consecutive Congresses.
Who has the shortest term as speaker of the House?
Theodore M. Pomeroy had the shortest time; elected speaker March 3, 1869, he served only one day.
Who Has been the oldest speaker of the House?
The youngest person elected to the office was Robert M. T. Hunter, aged 30 when he became speaker in 1839; the oldest person elected for the first time was Henry T. Rainey in 1933, aged 72.
Is the speaker of the House more powerful than the Prime Minister?
The speaker is one of the highest-ranking civil servants in the UK. By an Order in Council issued in 1919, the Speaker ranks in the line of succession above all non-royal individuals except the Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Lord President of Council.
What powers does the Prime Minister have? The Prime Minister is the head of His Majesty’s Government and is ultimately responsible for the Government’s policies and decisions. As head of the UK government: the Prime Minister also oversees the running of the civil service and government agencies. elects members of the government.
Is the Speaker of the House equivalent to the Prime Minister?
Although both the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the House of Representatives are members of the House of Representatives, it is not possible for the same person to do both jobs. The positions are quite different and each has many areas of responsibility.
How much power does the house speaker have?
Today, the Speaker has the same right to vote as other members, but only exercises it occasionally. Manual sec. 631. The Speaker may vote on any matter that comes before the House, and he is required to vote where his vote would be decisive or where the House is engaged in voting by ballot.
