Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
January 8, 2023
At 12:38, the morning of January 7, 2023 came the official pronouncement that California Republican Congressman-elect Kevin McCarthy would finally become Speaker of the House of Representatives. That this exercise took four days and 15 votes to get to McCarthy as Speaker-elect should not be a cause of consternation nor distress.
Yet, policy wonks, political pundits, talk radio commentators, and virtually anyone with a voice from both sides of the aisle described the longevity of the speaker election as a disgrace, an embarrassment, a failure of democracy, and/or something that should have been sorted out behind closed doors before the first vote for speaker was cast on January 3. Without a House Speaker, there effectively is no House of Representatives. Members-elect did not take the oath of office until well past 1 AM. Only at that time could any House business commence.
Everybody asks if their individual member of Congress “brought home the bacon,” meaning what programs or appropriations will financially benefit their specific district. Yet, to intentionally mix the metaphors, nobody wants to see how the sausage is made. Yes, it can be messy, but the finished product is typically something people enjoy or appreciate. Quite frankly, I would like my representative to come home to the district and report no new appropriations. After all, appropriations are spending bills, and Congress can only spend the money we the people send them via our taxes - what I like to call legalized theft. If the Congress manages to somehow cut spending, more of that money can stay in our pockets where it belongs, as we the people know best how to spend our money. Always remember, there is no such thing as government money.
Twenty members-elect fought valiantly for we the people during the four day standoff. We the people should be grateful for them in spite of being called hardliners, MAGA Republicans, even traitors and terrorists by some from their own party as well as the other side of the aisle and the media from Fox News to MSNBC. Clearly, they weren’t paying attention, as they should have been. Congress went from the infamous “we have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it,” under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), to concessions made by McCarthy to the 20 members on behalf of the American people that include having 72 hours to read a bill before it reaches the House floor (which still isn’t enough time considering the hundreds of pages many bills contain).
Some critics say the 72 hour rule will slow down House business. Sounds like a good thing on several levels. If it takes longer perhaps the members will be more thoughtful regarding the spending of the people’s money. Perhaps fewer bills will pass creating less regulation, fewer taxes. “I am open to whatever will give me the power to defend my constituents against this godforsaken city,” said Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX), one of the 20 who should be applauded for securing the concessions.
While several of the concessions made by McCarthy are “inside baseball,” such as eliminating remote committee work and proxy voting as should have been temporary during Covid, others include shrinking the power of the office of the Speaker, the ability of one member to call for the Speaker’s chair to be vacated, agreeing to allow floor votes on a border security bill (where the hell has this one been?), a reinstatement of a three-fifths supermajority required to approve any increase in tax rates. Another vital concession from McCarthy is the CUT-GO where every spending increase must be offset by an equal or greater cut in spending. As that needed to be a demand from the 20 holdouts, one should wonder what kind of Republican McCarthy really is.
“These past… days were worth it,” said US Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD). “Negotiating in good faith. Will it weaken the Speaker? In general, yes, but the Speaker, I think, has become a much too powerful position,” continued Harris.
Perhaps the most important concession is the requirement of appropriations bills to be voted upon as stand alones, as opposed to the behemoth $1.7 trillion omnibus bill passed in an 11th hour grab by the waning, outgoing Democrat Congress. There are 12 Congressional subcommittees each with its own set of appropriations https://appropriations.house.gov/legislation, each requiring its own deliberations, debates, and yea or nay votes. Having them presented as stand alone bills, more attention can be paid to them individually with more deliberate decisions to avoid spending $400 on a hammer.
The one downside coming from the concessions is allowing votes on earmarks inserted by individual House members; a practice both parties have relied upon in an effort to secure passage of legislation. This is an abominable practice. If a given member is unable to secure the necessary votes for passage of his or her bill sans earmarks, perhaps it is too weak, unnecessary, or too expensive in the first place and should die in committee. Every piece of legislation should stand or fall on its own merits.
By forcing multiple votes to determine the Speaker of the House, the 20 GOP outliers could ensure the American people got what these House members were fighting for by bringing it to the people via media - print, audio-visual, and social. This is perhaps one of the purest forms of democracy in action, and these 20 Republicans should be proud of what they accomplished. While any American above the age of majority could technically be elected Speaker of the House - they don’t even need to be a member of Congress - those opposing McCarthy should have settled upon one individual to counter him for the purposes of voting. During the entirety of the 15 ballots, the following were either nominated or voted for by the 20 anti-McCarthyites: Jim Banks (IN), Andy Biggs (AZ), Byron Donalds (FL), Kevin Hern (OK), Jim Jordan (OH) - my personal choice, former President Donald Trump (FL), and former House member Lee Zeldin (NY). Donalds and Jordan both received 20 votes for Speaker at least once. Jordan, a member of the more conservative House Freedom Caucus, never wavered in his support of McCarthy, voting for him on all 15 ballots.
“We need a leader who can stand up to a Democrat-controlled Senate and President Biden, and unfortunately, that isn’t Kevin McCarthy,” said US Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT). Rosendale never once voted for McCarthy, finally voting “present” on the 15th and final ballot.
“This is the great part. Because it took this long, now we learned how to govern. So now we’ll be able to get the job done,” said McCarthy between ballots 13 and 14, prematurely expecting 14 to be the last ballot, instead turning out to be the penultimate ballot. Slowly they turned - 13 of the 20 voted for McCarthy on ballot 12, 14 did so on ballot 13, and 16 voted for McCarthy on ballots 14 and 15 with six voting “present” on ballot 15 giving McCarthy the necessary, at that point, 216 votes. As each of the 20 voted for McCarthy for the first time, the rest of the GOP members broke into applause. With the 216th vote came chants of USA, USA, USA from the House gallery.
The 20 House, at the time, members-elect attempting to thwart McCarthy’s efforts to become the nation’s 55th different Speaker of the House are:
Andy Biggs (AZ-5) Paul Gosar (AZ-9)
Dan Bishop (NC-8) Andy Harris (MD-1)
Lauren Boebert (CO-3) Anna Paulina Luna (FL-13)
Josh Brecheen (OK-2) Mary Miller (IL-15)
Michael Cloud (TX-27) Ralph Norman (SC-5)
Andrew Clyde (GA-9) Andy Ogles (TN-5)
Eli Crane (AZ-2) Scott Perry (PA-10)
Byron Donalds (FL-19) Matt Rosendale (MT-2)
Matt Gaetz (FL-1) Chip Roy (TX-21)
Bob Good (VA-5) Keith Self (TX-3)
We the people owe them a debt of gratitude as they stood up for and by the American citizenry remembering that they, the members of the 118th Congress work for the American people and not the other way around. It is incumbent upon us to remind them of that not just every two years when they seek election or reelection, but every day. Call your House member and politely let them know where you stand on the various issues. The main number at the House of Representatives is 202-224-3121.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.
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