The US House Speaker fight among Republicans to determine who will lead the lower chamber of Congress is now dragging into its 3rd week with no real end in sight.
Politics :
Last week, congressional Republicans nominated GOP Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana to become the next Speaker of the House. However, Scalise dropped out soon thereafter once he realized he didn’t have the required 217 votes to win the coveted position.
Over the weekend, Republicans nominated GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio for the post. However, since Democrats intend to continuously vote as a block for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to become speaker, Jordan also doesn’t have the votes to lead Congress. If he decides to proceed, he will either succumb to numerous rounds of failed voting (similar to what happened with Kevin McCarthy), or join Scalise in dropping out once he accepts the obvious.
Should Jordan fail (as expected) to meet the vote requirement, the House Speaker fight will continue. Then, Republicans will be left with only 3 possible scenarios to get the House of Representatives back to work:
SPEAKER McCARTHY PT. 2
If Republicans remain unable to get their act together by the end of this week, one solution to end the House Speaker fight might be to reinstate former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, even if only temporarily.
Since getting rid of McCarthy didn’t magically solve the GOP’s problems, reinstating him could at least allow Congress to get back to work and pass bills, a task it has been unable to fulfill without an active House Speaker. The only problem is that McCarthy would have to convince at least 4 of the 8 MAGA representatives (who initially ousted him) to give him a 2nd chance, which might be a tall order given the current combative state among Republicans.
A BIPARTISAN CHOICE?
If Republicans want to end their embarrassing battle and get back to doing the people’s business, they could strike a deal with Democrats to make a bipartisan choice for speaker.
Democrats could agree to back a GOP nominee to end the House Speaker fight, although such a deal would come with a hefty price.
Republicans would likely have to agree to a power-sharing deal within Congress. Additionally, they’d probably have to approve the budget deal agreed upon earlier this summer between congressional Republicans and President Biden that included funding for Ukraine.
FWIW, this afternoon I’ve gotten a few calls and texts along the lines of, “I hear so-and-so is open to working with Dems on the speakership, who do you think would be good to talk with him, etc.” Is it possible frustration among sane Republicans is hitting a tipping point…?
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) October 12, 2023
A bipartisan agreement would only require a handful of Republicans to join Democrats in getting a deal done. However, those same Republicans would almost assuredly pay a huge price at the ballot box in next year’s election for daring to make a deal with Democrats.
ACTING SPEAKER
Democrats could join Republicans and change House rules in order to give extra powers to the current acting speaker, GOP Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina.
“In my view, a Clause 8(b)(3) Speaker pro tempore could use all the powers of the Office of Speaker necessary to conduct business in the House, including referring bills to committee, recognizing members to call up legislation, and entertaining motions to suspend the rules and pass bills,” said Matt Glassman, a senior fellow at the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University. “The House, then, can apparently function without an elected Speaker.”
According to Raw Story, Democratic Rep. David Joyce of Ohio, who is a member of the “Problem Solver’s Caucus,” said he is already in talks with members on both sides of the aisle about a possible joint government with interim Speaker Patrick McHenry.
The idea would be to give McHenry limited powers that would only allow him to preside over House votes in order to get bills passed. His tenure would also be for 15 days at a time, which would allow Republicans to buy time to end the House Speaker fight and select a permanent choice while still getting their jobs done.
According to a new CNN poll, 74% of Americans disapprove of congressional Republicans and their ongoing House Speaker fight. If the GOP continues this battle and remain for weeks or even months without a leader, they will undoubtedly pay a political price during the next election. They can choose to either remain stagnant and permit less than 3% of (Republican) lawmakers to control their fate, or accept some deal with united Democrats to move the business of Congress forward and hope it doesn’t come back to haunt them in 2024.
Republicans, you’re now on the clock.
OK WASSUP! discusses Politics:
The House Speaker fight among the GOP continues.
Lol this must be a busy day for everybody if I am the first one to post. But this news makes me happy. Repubs made their bed. Especially Kevin Mccarthy. And now they must all lie in it. What a mess their party is.