The Representative Kevin McCarthy won his fifteenth-round bid to become Speaker of the House, but only at great cost.
In order to win the votes he needed to secure the deck, Republican McCarthy had to agree to a series of House rule changes that weakened the power of his officeas reported by the Los Angeles Times.
On Monday night, the House approved those rules, which will govern the operation of the chamber until the next election.
1. Allow the far right to intervene in the formulation of rules
Among the most important concessions McCarthy made was that he agreed to appoint members of the Freedom Caucus, an ultra-conservative faction of House Republicans, to important committees such as the influential Rules Committee.
This panel is the main vehicle the speaker uses to monitor how debates are conducted and how bills move through the chamber.
The Rules Committee’s broad powers include the ability to rewrite bills, with the approval of the house, after they have been voted on by other committees.
Panel members also decide what amendments, if any, will be allowed in bills that are introduced in the floor. Conservative rebels had pushed for more votes with so-called “open” rules that allow all members to table amendments.
Although there are ways around this committee, it has enormous influence on the success or failure of bills in the lower house of Congress.
McCarthy has reportedly agreed to name three members of the Freedom Caucus to the panel.
Since the committee will likely include nine Republicans and four Democrats, the three members of the Freedom Caucus could split up and vote with Democrats to reject any rule they oppose.
2. Make it easy for your fellow Republicans to fire you
McCarthy also agreed to changes that will make it easier for his critics to initiate proceedings to oust him. Only one representative can call a vote to oust McCarthy; previously, half the House Republicans were needed. McCarthy had initially agreed to a threshold of five votes.
“This is one of the prices that the resisting colleagues demanded, so he really had no choice,” said Sarah Binder, a professor of political science at George Washington University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
“McCarthy, chosen as speaker, is always going to be on a short leash.”
3. Make tax increases and new spending easier to block
The new house rules include several provisions that would make it easier to block spending and tax increases.
Any member may raise a point of order to block a bill, amendment, or conference report that would increase appropriations or mandatory spending programs (for example, Medicaid or Social Security).
Only a majority vote could overturn the point of order. Furthermore, any increase in tax rates would require the support of 60% of the chamber.
The rules also require the house to vote on any increase in the debt limit, eliminating an earlier rule that raised the debt limit automatically when Congress passed new budget-related measures.
These particular promises could lead to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives clashing with the Democratic-controlled Senate and White House.
“These are the compromises that McCarthy will find it very difficult to keep his end of the deal, because the Senate steps in and they will have a different opinion, even probably the Republicans,” Binder told the Los Angeles Times.
“President Biden is not going to want to enact legislation to cut domestic or defense spending. So the dilemma McCarthy faces is that it seems to be kind of a direct path to a government shutdown.”
4. Guarantee a Vote on Congressional Term Limits
McCarthy also agreed to a vote on a bill that would limit Representatives to three terms (six years total) and Senators to two terms (12 years total).
The constitutional amendment is a long-standing wish of Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, who unsuccessfully sponsored bills on the issue in 2019 and 2021. Norman was one of the holdouts whose vote McCarthy needed to become president.
“Serving in the House or Senate should be a temporary privilege, not a career choice,” Norman said in announcing his 2021 bill, which was also supported by Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene in the House and Ted Cruz in the Senate. Senate.
“With the allure of Washington, it becomes easy over time to lose sight of your constituents back home.”
McCarthy has spent 16 years in the House and is currently in his ninth term as a congressman.
To some, McCarthy’s sweeping concessions to the so-called “Never Kevin” faction reinforce McCarthy’s caricature as a career politician who cares more about the gavel than being an effective leader.
“At this point, he’s made so many different commitments to values, principles, policies, that he just wants the gavel,” said Aaron Fritschner, Democratic Rep. Don Beyer’s deputy chief of staff and a frequent tweeter. on procedural issues of the chamber.
For McCarthy, public speaking “has apparently been his historical political goal for himself, and he’s just as ambitious as the next politician,” Binder said.
“Often, it’s having power and not necessarily what you’re going to do with power that makes the difference for these leaders.”
McCarthy has acknowledged that he had to do a lot to earn his job. “I hope one thing is clear after this week,” he said in his first speech as a speaker on Saturday morning. “I never give up.”
The true test of McCarthy’s ability, Binder said, will come when central governance issues, such as financing the government to avoid a shutdown or raising the debt ceiling to avoid default, come up later this year.
On those core issues, “it’s problematic to have a leader who is on such a short leash and has to give away the shop to his opponents,” Binder said.
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