A Deeply Divided House of Representatives: What is Happening?
There is no House of Representatives Speaker even after the eleventh round! A historic turn of events - The Speaker wasn't chosen on the first ballot for the first time in 100 years.
218 votes from members are required in order to be elected Speaker of the House. After the Republican party won control of the U.S. House in the November election, factions started to form. As a result, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy did not have enough support to win the speakership outright.
What is the House of Representatives, and How does it Work?
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress, the other being the Senate. It is composed of members known as representatives, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. The number of representatives each state has is based on its population, with each state receiving a minimum of one representative. The House of Representatives is responsible for introducing and voting on legislation and has the power to impeach federal officials.
The House is led by the Speaker of the House, who is elected by the members of the chamber. The Speaker is responsible for preserving order and conducting business in the House. The House also has a majority and a minority leader, who are responsible for representing the views of their respective parties and managing the legislative agenda.
To pass legislation, a bill must be approved by a majority of the members in the House and the Senate, and then signed into law by the President. The House and the Senate also have the power to override a presidential veto with a two-thirds vote in both chambers.
What is Happening?
The House is repeatedly being adjourned in a state of limbo as the Republicans in control are those who back another conservative president, Donald Trump. By opposing the appointment of a Speaker, they have effectively put a stop to the work of the House of Representatives. Candidates running under the slogan "Make America Great Again" are adamant about bringing that brand of populism to Congress and changing how it conducts business.
The McCarthy holdouts argue that forcing a vote on whether to remove the future Speaker increases accountability and that they want more opportunities to modify laws and hold lengthy debates. They also want to reinstate the right of any legislator to force a vote on the Speaker's removal.
Analysts and lawmakers claim that even if McCarthy is elected Speaker, he already has insufficient credentials for the position because he was clearly not his colleagues' top choice (or second, third) and because he would only need five votes to trigger a vote of no confidence.
The Democrats are, of course, enjoying it. Bill Pascrell, a New Jersey Democrat, was quoted saying, "I love their chaos. They deserve it. The only way to defeat somebody is to have them defeat themselves."
Is Donald Trump to Blame for the Divided Republican Party?
Republicans accuse the media and the Democrats of splitting them, but some analysts eye former President Trump as the one who fanned the flames of contention.
But now, even Mr. Trump has been unable to convince them to change their minds. The former President asked "all of our GREAT Republican House Members to VOTE FOR KEVIN" in a social media post on Wednesday. However, One of the former President's most devoted followers and far-right Colorado Republican, Lauren Boebert, rejected the appeal from the House floor. She suggested Trump should instead tell Kevin McCarthy, 'sir, you do not have the votes and it's time to withdraw.'
Morris Fiorina, a political scientist at Stanford University, remarked that while his own might dwindles, Trump has "put in motion forces he can't control any more, He can't put the genie back in the lamp".
Ending Note
The Republican National Party is struggling with an identity crisis that has not been experienced in decades, from the corridors of Congress to the Ohio Statehouse to the RNP's inner workings.
Republicans are mired in intraparty strife, defined by a fringe element that appears more eager to topple the House than to reestablish the foundation of a political party that has been defeated in the previous three presidential elections. They lack a unified legislative agenda, clear leadership, or shared vision for the nation.