After speaker fight, will McCarthy鈥檚 House be more democratic?
| Washington
GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California became Speaker of the House last week, in large part by agreeing to new rules that will听give more power to the rank and file, while weakening his own position.听
The wrangling, which put internal GOP divisions on full display, contrasts starkly with the tight ship run by former Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi. For many, the disorder has fueled concerns that the House is headed for two years of dysfunction 鈥撎齣ncluding a possible government shutdown and a debt ceiling standoff that could potentially damage the U.S. economy. Democratic Rep. Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts听听to ABC鈥檚 Boston affiliate that Mr. McCarthy 鈥減ut the inmates in charge of the asylum and he鈥檚听put himself in a straitjacket.鈥�
But听a number of听Republicans contend that the impassioned negotiations have in fact opened the way for the House to be run more democratically. That may look messy at times, but ultimately it will allow more members to shape the laws that come out of Congress 鈥� and that鈥檚 a win for the American people, they argue.听
Why We Wrote This
Some House Republicans contend that a weak speaker is a good thing 鈥� giving members more say on legislation. But there鈥檚 a fine line between a more democratic process and dysfunction.
鈥淲hat all of us have been witnessing in Pelosi鈥檚 House has been one person dictating everything. ... Those days are over, and that鈥檚 a good thing,鈥� says Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican on the powerful Appropriations Committee. 鈥淒ictatorships are more efficient,鈥� he continues, but with democracy, 鈥測ou get much better results.鈥�
Whether Speaker McCarthy is indeed able to get better results remains to be seen. The first test will be a vote tonight on the rules package that will outline how the GOP will run the House. Amid rising polarization in recent years, previous speakers 鈥� both Democrats and Republicans 鈥� have also promised a more democratic style of governance only to backpedal quickly when some members took advantage of the opportunity to throw sand in the gears.听
The House, designed to reflect the passions of the people through 435 representatives, is a much more unwieldy chamber to govern than the 100-member Senate. It鈥檚 a fine balance between making the process more democratic and bringing everything to a standstill with round-the-clock deliberations on endless amendments. Keeping a party鈥檚 factions together is particularly tough for speakers when they have such a narrow majority.
鈥淧elosi did that masterfully,鈥� says Norman Ornstein, emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.听
It鈥檚 harder for Mr. McCarthy, he adds, because many on the far right 鈥渄on鈥檛 care much for the institution,鈥澨齛nd听will be much harder to keep under control.听Plus, the Senate and White House are controlled by Democrats, with whom Mr. McCarthy will also need to work to get anything done.
鈥淚t would be difficult for anyone,鈥� Mr. Ornstein says, but he adds that he鈥檚 never seen a 鈥渨eaker鈥� leader than Mr. McCarthy.听
Institutional change?
For the past century, the House has elected every one of its speakers on the first ballot. It took Mr. McCarthy 15 rounds of voting to get the gavel, despite weeks of negotiations leading up to the opening day of Congress last week.听
About 20 right-wing members blocked his bid for days, arguing that he had little vision and would be beholden to the status quo, marginalizing conservative priorities. As Mr. McCarthy鈥檚 bid flailed and other names were floated to lead the raucous GOP caucus, McCarthy supporters grew increasingly angry with the holdouts.听
GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas said he refused to vote for anyone else on the principle that Freedom Caucus members shouldn鈥檛 be able to dictate the agenda. 鈥淲e cannot let the terrorists win,鈥� Mr. Crenshaw, a Navy SEAL,听听鈥撎齛 comment for which he later听.
In the end, Mr. McCarthy made a series of concessions to persuade the holdouts to either vote for him or to simply vote 鈥減resent,鈥� as a few did.听
The new rules package, as posted by the Rules Committee at press time, lowers the threshold for introducing a vote on removing the speaker to just one member. In addition, it ensures the debt limit cannot be raised without an explicit vote in the House, applies a 鈥渃ut as you go鈥� budget approach rather than 鈥減ay as you go,鈥� sets caps on spending, and requires a three-fifths majority in the House to approve any tax increases. It also establishes a select subcommittee to investigate COVID-19 origins and the impact of various pandemic policies including vaccine development, and establishes another subcommittee to look at what House GOP leadership characterizes听as the 鈥渨eaponization鈥� of the federal government听for political purposes.
Conservatives hailed other concessions as well, which do not appear to be in the rules package.听Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a freshman Republican from Florida who was among the holdouts, provided some highlights听in a听, arguing that they opened the way for 鈥渢he start of a transformative shift in our country.鈥�
鈥淭hese changes are not just for us. It really is about institutional change,鈥� Congresswoman Luna told reporters. 鈥淗ad we not had these discussions, this wouldn鈥檛 be possible.鈥�
A key institutional change touted by Republicans is shifting some of the power from the speaker back to committees, which historically proposed and refined bills before bringing them to the floor.听鈥淟et鈥檚 make committees meaningful again,鈥� says Rep. Mark Amodei of Nevada, another member of the Appropriations Committee.
鈥淯ltimately I believe it鈥檚 going to lead to a better, a more committee-driven legislative process,鈥� agrees Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state, who is likely to become chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee. 鈥淥ne that is actually restoring more power and decision-making to the members.鈥�
As for last week鈥檚 drama? 鈥淭here were underlying issues that needed to be addressed,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檒l leave it at that.鈥�
Fast approaching debt limit threshold听
Exhibit A for many of the Republicans pushing for a more open legislative process and a commitment to spending limits was the rushed passage of a $1.7 trillion bill last month that was 4,155 pages long. One of their demands was to require 72 hours for members to read any bill before voting on it 鈥� a provision that鈥檚 included in the new rules package.听
A key test for Mr. McCarthy is likely to come when U.S. spending is poised to exceed the currently authorized debt limit of $31 trillion, a threshold expected to be crossed sometime after July 1. Conservatives have said any raising of the debt limit must be accompanied by spending cuts. If they get into another protracted standoff, it could weaken America鈥檚 credit rating or potentially plunge the U.S. government into default.听 听
And this time, thanks to the concessions they extracted, the holdouts will have the ability to call a vote on ousting Mr. McCarthy as speaker should they feel he reneged on any promises. To achieve that, however, they would need a majority of the House鈥檚 435 votes, meaning nearly all 222 Republicans would need to back it 鈥撎齩r Democrats would need to join in.听
鈥淲e firmly believe that overspending is the cause of the inflation and it鈥檚 hurting the American people. And frankly, we鈥檙e spending money from Americans yet to be born to fund our spending habits today,鈥� GOP Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, one of the alternative nominees for speaker last week who eventually backed Mr. McCarthy, told reporters. 鈥淪o we are committed to getting to a balanced budget.鈥�
That process, he said, would be transparent 鈥渟o that the American people can clearly see the necessary priorities.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 good for a body that needs to open up its processes to make sure that average members actually get to participate,鈥� said Rep. Patrick McHenry, a key McCarthy ally tapped to chair the House Financial Services Committee. 鈥淚 think that that is a healthy sign for the tough work that is to come.鈥�
