Washington, D.C. – Getting to be Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives was perhaps a trifle more difficult than California Republican Kevin McCarthy thought it would be.
McCarthy had planned or at least expected, say those who purport to know, the voters to give the GOP such a large majority in the 2022 election that the concerns and complaints of those members of the Republican Conference who wished to change the way the chamber did business could be ignored.
He got his majority, but, instead of what the prognosticators and pollsters predicted, it was by the skin of the elephant’s trunk. This meant, in practical terms, that the 30 or so members of the House Republican Conference who’d voted behind closed doors not to make McCarthy the party’s candidate for Speaker now had something he wanted: their votes.
They did not come easy yet, as McCarthy remained focused on his objective and did not blink; eventually, they came. In exchange, he promised there would be changes to the way the House goes about the people’s business that allowed members to have more input and for the process to be more transparent.
There’s danger in that. As Bismarck is believed to have said, the people should not see their sausages or laws being made. Oh, the other hand, it’s hard to imagine a situation in which the feeling of revulsion many people have toward our institutions of government could be any stronger.
Some of the longtime Congress watchers have made cautionary noises about McCarthy’s “sowing the seeds of his own demise” by agreeing to weaken the power of the office he so steadfastly pursued. Time will tell, but one can see how the need for the Republicans to hold together now as never before perfectly fits with the consensus leadership style the new Speaker is said to practice.
So far, so good. The rules package – which includes provisions to force spending cuts (or Cut/Go) in place of Pelosi’s PAYGO, requires two-thirds of the chamber to vote in the affirmative on any measure that increases tax rates and generally moves the chamber back toward what longtime veterans of the legislative branch refer to as “regular order” – was enacted on largely partisan lines, 220 to 213.
That’s important because it sets the stage for everything that comes after. Both the House and Senate operate according to a complex system of rules honed and tested over centuries that, which are quite different from one chamber to the other, establish and preserve the character of Congress.
McCarthy also prevailed on his promise to establish a select committee to be headed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, that will investigate what Republicans are calling the weaponization of government agencies against the American people.
The committee will, in the words of a release issued Tuesday by the Office of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., “investigate how the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and other executive branch agencies obtain information from and provide information to the private sector, non-profit entities, or other government agencies to facilitate action against American citizens.”
Democrats were quick to denounce the effort, as one might expect from the party that counts the federal workers’ unions among its most ardent supporters, comparing it to another infamous congressional committee headed decades ago by another McCarthy.
All that noise is a distraction intended to hide the potential dynamite waiting to explode in the Jordan-led investigations. The panel, insiders assure those who inquire, will look at the abuse of the IRS under both Obama and Biden, the various investigations into Donald Trump based on accusations that some government officials knew were demonstrably false from the outset, and other matters that Pelosi and company managed to keep hidden under the rug since 2009.
Some may call it revenge for how Trump was treated. Others may say it is a matter of good governance and that Congress has for too long neglected its responsibility to oversee the actions of the executive branch. Whatever it might be, this committee – which will have “sweeping investigatory powers” that include access to information shared with the House Intelligence Committee and the authority to review ongoing criminal investigations – is likely to dig up dirt and take the focus off legislative matters as Capitol Hill reporters flit from one alleged scandal to another.
That might be good, or it might be bad. Republicans simply don’t know how to conduct investigations as the Democrats do. Maybe it’s a lack of nerve or a matter of ethics but the plain fact is the members of the two parties are wired differently. These inquiries could end up putting Republicans in the hot seat come election time just like the impeachment of Bill Clinton backfired on the GOP in the 1998 election. Nevertheless, almost all the members of the Republican conference voted to go ahead with them, largely because it’s in the best interests of the country for someone to try and bring the administrative state to heel.
The contretemps surrounding McCarthy’s election could have and should have been handled better. They’re over now, and most all should be forgiven. Certainly, those members who stood on principle, demanding guaranteeing votes on term limits and the proffer of a ten-year plan to bring the federal budget into balance should not have the extremes to which they went held against them for long. Others among them, the ones who sought the public’s attention like sideshow carnival-barkers cloaked in garments sewn from the remnants of our founding documents, shall have to earn our trust and respect once again as they insisted was the case for them as regards McCarthy.
How it will turn out is not clear. The Republicans possess the gavel, but it is not at all clear they have the power to make the House function as they wish. It will take adroit leadership at all times from McCarthy, Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and all the committee and subcommittee chairmen to shift the institute to the right.
They will also need to recognize they are not operating in a vacuum. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the chamber’s new Minority Leader made that much clear before he turned the gavel over to the new Speaker. The Democrats will come at the GOP hard, putting up a degree of opposition unlike any seen before in the modern congressional era.
It is a shame but the new reality in American politics is that while congressional leaders come and go, the partisan animosity they engender while in office remains long after they’ve departed. That’s not good for the people and it’s not good for the institution. Hopefully, McCarthy can change that a bit, making things a bit less toxic than they’ve been for 40 years.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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The vote on term limits (also pay raises for them) for both congress and the senate should be voted on by the America’s legal citizens- not themselves. As far as their pay goes. There shouldn’t be anybody. All should keep their jobs/insurance and be allowed time off for voting on and conducting government business. This would weed out those who are only in it for the money.
We will see
Not holding my breath, talk is cheap, and we’ve heard the blustering from these career politicians for far too long. IMO
I would much rather have the house investigating than passing any thing.