After days of intense Republican infighting that brought the lower house of Congress to a halt, Kevin McCarthy was appointed the next speaker of the US House of Representatives on Saturday. The 57-year-old Californian, need a simple majority to be chosen as Washington’s top legislator, to preside over House proceedings.
But since Republicans were so profoundly split, it took 15 rounds of voting over four days to subdue an anti-McCarthy uprising, making it the longest speakership election in 160 years.
McCarthy was Elected as a Speaker
McCarthy was just one vote away from winning the 14th round when the House convenes for the late-night session. To address Matt Gaetz, who was seated with Lauren Boebert and other dissenters, he made his way to the rear of the room. There were accusations made and words said, but it appears that violence was just avoided. Republican Mike Rogers of Alabama once began to advance on Gaetz before being forcibly repelled by Republican Richard Hudson. Keep it civil, someone yelled.
Republicans sought to adjourn the meeting as soon as possible, but McCarthy promptly moved to change his vote so that the meeting would continue. His colleagues yelled, “One more time!
On the fourth long day of a long and painful struggle that has demonstrated the strengths and fragility of American democracy, the few Republican holdouts started voting present as well, decreasing the count he needed to eventually take the gavel. Earlier in the day, McCarthy told reporters that he thought “we’ll have the votes to finish this once and for all.”
Who is Kevin McCarthy
The Republican Party has evolved internally during former US President Donald Trump’s tenure, and Kevin McCarthy’s ascension in the party is predicated on his willingness to take chances. Since he was elected minority leader of the Republican party in the California Assembly in 2003, his career has taken off. Kevin McCarthy, the son of a fireman and the grandson of a cattle rancher, is married to his high school sweetheart and the father of two kids. From 2014 to 2015, Kevin McCarthy served as the leader of the Republican group in the lower house, and in that year he launched his first candidature for speaker. However, He’s never served as the chairman of a House committee.
Agreeing to a demand by hardliners
McCarthy only won the gavel after giving in to hardliners’ insistence that any lawmaker is allowed to request his ouster at any time. That will significantly reduce the influence he will have when attempting to enact legislation on important subjects like government spending, raising the nation’s impending debt ceiling, and other potential disasters.
The Republicans’ small 222-212 majority following their less successful than anticipated showing in the midterm elections in November has given the right-wing hardliners who have criticised McCarthy’s leadership excessive authority.
These compromises, which include significant expenditure reductions and other restraints on McCarthy’s leadership, may portend more upheaval in the months to come, particularly since Congress will have to approve an increase in the United States $31.4 trillion borrowing limit.
Republicans have attempted to force significant spending cuts over the last ten years by periodically shutting down huge portions of the government and bringing the biggest borrower in history dangerously close to default.
The readiness of McCarthy to play such a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with President Joe Biden, whose Democrats control the Senate, has been questioned by a number of the hardliners. When Mitch McConnell’s Senate Republicans agreed to compromise agreements in the past, they raged.
How Mccaethy concession will play out for him
The hardliners, which included Texas Representative Chip Roy and Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, said that the concessions they got from McCarthy would make it simpler to use such tactics this year or, if McCarthy falls short of their expectations, force another vote on his leadership.
Scott Perry, the head of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, declared that the changes in how the government would spend and distribute money will be “historic.”
“When the Democrats take over the White House and the Senate, we don’t want clean debt ceilings to just pass and keep paying the bill without some counteracting effort to control spending.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, one of those Democrats, cautioned that McCarthy may come to regret the concessions he made to secure the position.
“The MAGA Republican-controlled House will likely lead to a government shutdown or a default with devastating consequences for our country,” Schumer said in a statement. “Kevin McCarthy’s concessions to the extremists in his party make it far more likely.”
In stark contrast to the House Republican fights this week, Biden and McConnell appeared in Kentucky on Wednesday to promote infrastructure spending.
McCarthy’s tardy win came the day after the two-year mark of a violent mob invasion of Congress on January 6, 2021, to overturn the defeat of then-President Donald Trump.
The 14 unsuccessful votes this week were the most for the speakership since 1859, during the stormy years leading up to the Civil War.
Do CONCESSIONS mean less power?
McCarthy has consented to compromises that will result in him having significantly less power than his Democratic predecessor, Nancy Pelosi. In a divided Washington, that will make it challenging for him to consent to accords with Democrats.
Giving hardliners the power to request a vote to oust the speaker will give them tremendous sway.
The deal would limit spending for the upcoming fiscal year to levels from the prior year, which would represent a major reduction in spending when inflation and population growth are taken into consideration.
That may encounter opposition from more moderate Republicans or those who have advocated for increased military spending, especially given that the US is now aiding Ukraine’s defence against a Russian invasion.
Republican Brian Fitzpatrick, a moderate, said he wasn’t concerned that hardliners would effectively dominate the House.
He told reporters, “It’s aspirational.” “Our voting cards are still here.”
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