WASHINGTON (AP) – Electing the speaker of the House may have been the easy part. Now House Republicans will try to govern.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy passed his first tests late Monday when Republicans approved their package of rules governing House operations, a typically routine Day One step that stretched into the second week of the new majority. It was approved 220-213, a party-line vote with one Republican against.
Then, House Republicans easily passed their first bill – legislation to cut funding meant to support the Internal Revenue Service. The Republican IRS bill ran into a snag ahead of votes as the budget office announced that instead of saving money, it would add $114 billion to the federal deficit. The measure flew by another party-line vote, 218-210, although it has almost no chance of passage in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
It was an effective start to a new era of crisis management that might otherwise have been there. House Republicans are expected to lurch from one standoff to the next after a tumultuous speaker’s race last week highlighted the challenges ahead as McCarthy faces a rebel majority as well as the remaining limits of President Joe Biden on the Capitol Hill agenda.
With sky-high ambitions for a hard-right conservative agenda but only a narrow grip on the majority, allowing only a handful of holdouts to stall proceedings, Republicans are pushing forward to an uncertain, volatile start to the new session. They want to investigate Biden, cut federal spending and beef competition with China.
But first McCarthy, backed by former President Donald Trump, must show that the Republican majority can keep up with the basics of governing.
“You know, it’s a little bit harder when you get into the majority and the odds maybe aren’t high,” McCarthy admitted after winning the speaker vote. “Now the disruption really took off and we learned how to work together.”
But McCarthy himself announced the final vote Monday afternoon on the IRS bill to applause from his side of the aisle. “Promises made. Promises were kept,” he said in a statement.
As McCarthy opened the House on Monday as the new speaker, Republicans launched a debate on the Rules package, a hard-fought 55-page document that McCarthy negotiated with conservative holdings to win their votes to become House speaker. .
A key part of the package is the provision wanted by the conservative Freedom Caucus that resets a long-standing rule that allows a single lawmaker to make a motion to “vacate the chair” — a vote to oust the speaker. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi ended the rule when Democrats took over in 2019 because conservatives saw it as a threat to veteran Republican speakers.
Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., said the rules are about “getting back to basics.”
But that is not the only change. There are other provisions from conservatives removed from McCarthy that weaken the power of the speaker’s office and turn more control over the business of legislation to rank-and-file legislators, especially the far-right legislators who won concessions.
Republicans are allowing more Liberal lawmakers on the Rules committee that shapes legislative debates. Those members promise more open and free-flowing debates and want 72 hours to read the legislation before the votes.
But it’s an open question whether the changes being approved will make the House more transparent in its operations or end it, as happened last week when McCarthy fought three days and 14 failed ballots before winning the award finally a speaker.
Many Republicans defended the position over the speaker, which was finally resolved in the hours after midnight Saturday morning by the narrowest number of votes – one of the longest running races in US history.
“We need a little temporary conflict in this town to stop this town from rolling over on the American people,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said over the weekend on CNN.
On Monday, Roy praised the new rules he helped craft, saying he could file a motion “right now” to demand a vote on speaker — as has happened through much of the House’s history.
But heading into Monday afternoon’s vote on the rules package, two other Republicans raised objections to the backroom deals McCarthy had cut, leaving it unclear whether there would be enough GOP support for passage. . In the end, only Republican Representative Tony Gonzales of Texas voted against it.
Democrats rejected the new rules as a counter to far-right demands aligned with Trump’s Make American Great Again agenda.
“These rules are not a serious attempt at regulation,” said Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee. Rather, he said, it is “a redemptive note from the far right”.
Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-NY, focused his criticism on the GOP’s so-called Holman Rule, which would allow Congress to overturn the pay of individual federal employees: “This is no way to govern.”
McCarthy commands a slim Republican majority of 222 seats, meaning on any given vote he can only lose four GOP detractors or the legislation will fail, if all Democrats oppose it.
The new rules make McCarthy’s job even tougher. For example, Republicans are getting rid of the proxy voting that Democrats under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. That means McCarthy has to demand greater attendance and participation at every vote and almost no absences are allowed for family emergencies or other circumstances.
“Members of Congress need to get up and work again,” said Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.
With the Senate still narrowly held by Democrats, the divided Congress could still be a period of bipartisan deal-making. On Monday, a group of Republican and Democratic senators addressed the southern US border with Mexico as they sought to develop an immigration overhaul to curb the flow of migrants.
But more often than not a divided Congress creates a traffic jam.
The Republicans have been here before, just over a decade ago, when the tea party class was swept to the majority in 2011, pushing Pelosi out of the speaker’s office and ushering in an era of hardball politics that shut down the government and the threat of a federal debt default. .
McCarthy was instrumental in those battles, having recruited the tea party class when he was House GOP campaign chairman. He tried and failed to take on Republican John Boehner in 2015 when the House speaker abruptly resigned rather than face a possible vote by conservatives on his ouster.
Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Hope Yen contributed to this report.
Is Congress higher or Senate?
The Senate has 100 members and is the upper house of the United States Congress. It is called the upper house because it has fewer members than the House of Representatives and has powers not granted to the House, such as approving the appointments of Cabinet secretaries and federal judges.
Is the Senate the same as Congress? The US Senate, along with the US House of Representatives, make up the US Congress. The Senate has certain unique powers and obligations. To see also : Capitol Riot Committee seeks four criminal charges against Trump. Its composition is also different: each state is represented by two senators, and senators serve staggered six-year terms.
Who is above the Senate?
Under the Constitution, the vice-president acts as the president of the Senate and presides over the day-to-day proceedings of the Senate.
Who has the most power Congress or the Senate?
The Constitution gives Congress the most important power – the authority to make laws. A bill, or proposed law, becomes law only after it has been approved in the same form by the House of Representatives and the Senate. See the article : Reif, Zuber attends the signing of CHIPS and the Science project. Both houses have other powers, many of which are listed in Article I, Section 8.
Why is it called the Senate?
The name comes from the Old Roman Senator (Latin: Senatus), as it is called as the assembly of the senior (Latin: senex which means “the elder” or “old man”) and therefore considered wise and more experienced members of the society or ruling class. See the article : Shelby Statement on Democratic Reconciliation Legislation – Press Releases – United States Senator Richard Shelby.
What does the Senate do in France? The Senate is also the representative of the territories and often defends the regions and mayors, according to Article 24 of the Constitution. The Senate also monitors the administration’s activities by publishing many reports each year on various topics.
How is the Senate elected in France?
Senators in France are elected by indirect universal suffrage, by a panel of “electors”. Half of the Senate seats are up for election every three years; the term of office is six years.
What was the French Parliament called?
30, 1791) its formal name was National Constituent Assembly (Assemblée Nationale Constituante), although the shorter form was still commonly used. The name was not used again until the National Assembly of 1871-75, which ended the Franco-German War and drafted the 1875 constitution.
Who invented the Senate?
When was the Senate created? The Senate can have some important “birthdays.” In September of 1788 the state of Pennsylvania elected William Maclay and Robert Morris to serve in the newly created United States Senate, the first two senators elected under the new Constitution.
How much are senators paid a year?
How much are Senators paid?
How much is a congressman paid?
Congressional Salary Since 2009, the COLA increases have been rejected, bringing the annual salary of rank-and-file legislators serving in the US Congress to $174,000 per year. Leaders of the House and Senate are paid a higher salary than other Members.
What does the Senate do?
Only the Senate has the power to confirm those appointments of the President that require consent, and to provide advice and consent to confirm treaties. There are, however, two exceptions to this rule: the House must also approve appointments to the Vice Presidency and any contract related to foreign trade.
What do senators vs representatives do? Members of the US House of Representatives represent a portion of their state called a Congressional District, which averages 700,000 people. However, the Senators represent the entire state.
What are 3 responsibilities of the Senate?
Their constitutional powers include; propose legislation, draft or amend bills, filibuster (delay or block legislation through lengthy debate), oversee the federal budget, and the executive branch by approving or denying presidential appointments to agencies.
What is difference between House and Senate?
Senators represent their entire state, but House members represent individual districts. The number of districts in each state is determined by state population. Each state has at least one representative in Congress. The House and the Senate are very different bodies.
What does the Senate do in simple terms?
The United States Senate is the upper house of the United States Congress, a small group of elected people who decide the laws of the country. Each US state elects two people to represent them in the US Senate. These people are called senators.
