During the last week, there has been considerable attention given to the elections for a new Speaker of the House of Representatives. The reason was that these elections took place from January 3 to January 7, which resulted in Kevin McCarthy (R-California) becoming Speaker of the House of Representatives on the night of January 6-7, 2023 after a record number of fifteen rounds of elections.1 However, the reason for this delay was due to how McCarthy was, during this four-day interval, forced to negotiate with members of the far-right Freedom Caucus over a “House rules package” that would, among other things, essentially limit the powers of the House in raising taxes, spending, and the debt ceiling.2 As part of this compromise, McCarthy was also forced to accept a provision that would further enable the House to oust the Speaker if their agenda was unpopular with members of their own party.3 In response to these events, the House Democrats have denounced the House “rules package” as an infringement of the House’s powers and the traditions of democratic governance.4 In short, the next two years are likely to see considerable hyper-partisanship in the House of Representatives.
Of course, I have wondered: How will these events affect President Joe Biden during the remainder of his term, and how will this affect his re-election bid? Another question that I have considered is how will this infighting affect not only the Republicans’ own electoral future, but the very existence of the party itself. To answer these questions, I must say this: I am not sure, as anything is subject to change between now and the 2024 election. However, there is a part of me that has wondered if this might result in a gradual weakening of the Republican Party in the future.
[1] Barbara Sprunt and Susan Davis, “Kevin McCarthy is Elected House Speaker after 15 Votes and Days of Negotiations,” National Public Radio, January 7, 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/01/06/1147470516/kevin-mccarthy-speaker-of-the-house-vote (accessed January 7, 2023).
[2] Sahil Kapur, “How Kevin McCarthy got the votes for speaker — and why it could haunt him,” NBC News, January 7, 2023, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/how-kevin-mccarthy-got-votes-speaker-haunt-rcna64720 (accessed January 7, 2023).
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
Kapur, Sahil. “How Kevin McCarthy got the votes for speaker — and why it could haunt him.” NBC News, January 7, 2023. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/how-kevin-mccarthy-got-votes-speaker-haunt-rcna64720 (accessed January 7, 2023).
Sprunt, Barbara, and Susan Davis. “Kevin McCarthy is Elected House Speaker after 15 Votes and Days of Negotiations,” National Public Radio, January 7, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/01/06/1147470516/kevin-mccarthy-speaker-of-the-house-vote (accessed January 7, 2023).
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