Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
October 6, 2023
For the first time in American history the Speaker of the House of Representatives has been removed from the Speakership. While Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) maintains his seat in the House, he, by virtue of being on the short end of a 216-210 vote, is no longer Speaker of the House. A small insurgency, lead by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) fostered the removal of McCarthy along with the backing of the entirety of the Democrats present on Tuesday, October 3.
As though the struggle for McCarthy to become Speaker in the first place, a draining 15 rounds of voting in January, wasn’t challenging enough, a rule imposed that any single House member could seek the removal of the Speaker, put McCarthy in a position of tap dancing on the head of a pin. Just because someone has the right to do something, doesn’t mean he or she should exercise that right. Good judgment is often the better part of valor and Gaetz picked an inopportune time to display his poor judgment.
Hopefully upon selection of the next Speaker of the House the power of one member to seek the ousting of the Speaker and upend all other House business will be rescinded. It is not healthy to have a revolving door in the Speakership simply because one House member is disgruntled or has an axe to grind - this did not seem to be the intent of the Founders and Framers of the United States government upon inception more than 240 years ago.
Gaetz pulled the trigger on removing McCarthy because Gaetz claimed McCarthy did not keep his word regarding appropriations bills - wanting 12 separate bills instead of an omnibus bill lumping all expenditures into one behemoth of a bill. With 12 individual appropriations bills it would be more efficient and easier to exact deeper cuts to the spending, which has been out of control for decades, regardless of which party is in the majority.
But in a effort to stave off a government shutdown once the deadline for the appropriations passed, McCarthy worked with Democrats to pass a short-term spending bill - another deadline of November 17 looms on the horizon. The temporary stopgap, known as a “clean Continuing Resolution,” simply continues spending at the current levels - not necessarily a good thing, but it keeps the government functioning (which, granted to some, is not a good thing).
Gaetz held his ground and followed through with his effort to have McCarthy removed over what Gaetz felt was disloyalty to the party. “A vote for a continuing resolution is a vote to continue the Green New Deal, a vote to continue inflationary spending, and the most troubling of fashions, a vote for a continuing resolution is a vote to continue the election interference of Jack Smith. We told you how to use the power of the purse: individual, single-subject spending bills that would allow us to have specific review, programmatic analysis and that would allow us to zero out the salaries of the bureaucrats who have broken bad, targeted President Trump or cut sweetheart deals for Hunter Biden,” said a somewhat grandstanding Gaetz from the House floor on September 12. Somewhat grandstanding, because what Gaetz said is true and accurate, but the more immediate issue at hand, avoiding a government shutdown took immediate precedence, which McCarthy defended.
“At the end of the day, keeping government open and paying our troops was the right decision. I stand by that decision. If I have to lose my job over it, so be it,” said McCarthy.
And as politics makes strange bedfellows, it took eight Republicans - seven strong conservatives and all 208 voting Democrats to sink McCarthy. Those eight Republicans are Andy Biggs (AZ), Ken Buck (CO), Tim Burchett (TN), Eli Crane (AZ), Matt Gaetz (FL), Bob Good (VA), Nancy Mace (SC), and Matt Rosendale (MT).
Mace, the more moderate of the anti-McCarthy octet, said her vote was “about trust and keeping your word.” McCarthy “has not lived up to his word on how the House would operate.” Mace supported McCarthy for Speaker in January. Even conservative stalwarts such as, Lauren Bobert (CO), Byron Donalds (FL), Paul Gosar (AZ), Anna Paulina Luna (FL), Mary Miller (IL), Ralph Norman (SC), Scott Perry (PA), and Chip Roy (TX) who voted against McCarthy for Speaker in January, voted to retain him now, except Luna who is on maternity leave. Six other members also did not vote due to absentia: Cori Bush (D-MO), John Carter (R-TX), Lance Gooden (R-TX), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) - attending the funeral of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Mary Sattler Peltola (D-AK), and Emilia Strong Sykes (D-OH).
While there were some Democrats who supported the recent spending bill, all 208 Democrats present voted to oust McCarthy. This is a GOP civil war and it is not up to the Democrats to save McCarthy, yet had four Democrats voted with the 210 Republicans, McCarthy’s Speakership would have survived by a vote of 214-212. Four Democrats with solid bona fides in their districts that could survive some pushback could have worked with McCarthy behind the scenes for a future quid pro quo. Jerry Connally (VA), James Clyburn (SC), Debbie Dingell (MI), Lloyd Doggett (TX), Steny Hoyer (MD), Ro Khanna (CA), James McGovern (MA), Frank Pallone (NJ), Bill Pascrell (NJ), and Dean Phillips (MN) come to mind. Any four of them could have made some backroom deal with McCarthy to save his bacon with little consequence at home.
Now, thanks to Gaetz and his shortsightedness, the House is closed for business until a new Speaker is elected. Gaetz is being vilified by Republicans in and out of Washington and he did not come armed with a plan. Gaetz should have had one or two GOP members willing to stand for a vote to become Speaker that same day. Instead, no sooner than Tuesday October 10 or Wednesday October 11 will the Republican caucus begin the process of selecting a new Speaker. Gaetz, in this instance, is not being self-serving, announcing he has no desire to become Speaker.
Gaetz did suggest a few members, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (LA), as “the type of person I could see myself supporting. I could see myself supporting Tom Emmer (MN). I could see myself supporting Mike Johnson of Louisiana. I could see myself supporting Jodey Arrington of Texas. I could see myself supporting Kevin Hern of Oklahoma,” said Gaetz.
As of this writing both Scalise and Jim Jordan (OH) have tossed their hats into the ring for Speaker. Both received votes in January for this post, yet neither was a nominated candidate. It begs the question, what changed for these two House members since January? I like both Scalise and Jordan, but Scalise is recovering from blood cancer, thus my support would be with Jordan, who I would have preferred in January in the first place. Former President Donald Trump announced his endorsement of Jordan.
The bottom line is, Gaetz may have had good intentions based upon why he wanted McCarthy out, yet the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and as the New York Post reported on Wednesday, “The Gaetz of Hell,” seemed an apt headline, given the predicament the GOP now finds itself. Jordan will be a stronger Speaker; a stronger leader who is more fiscally conservative - to which the GOP must aspire.
Serious spending cuts must be made starting with every penny dedicated to the millions of illegal aliens roaming around this country. Cuts to duplicate programs, cuts to unnecessary research programs that could be funded by universities or the private sector in general, cuts to those government personnel deemed “non-essential,” government funded public-private projects such as electric vehicles and any other government sponsored corporate welfare initiatives/bailout funding should all be sliced and diced. It is high time the GOP stop behaving like Democrat-lite, get spending under control, stop printing money as though it were bathroom tissue, stop being afraid of the Democrats and their media lapdogs - they don’t like us to begin with, pandering to them will change nothing but to make the GOP weaker, which it can ill afford. Unite behind one strong Speaker candidate and get back to the business of protecting this country, fixing the economy, sealing the border, and yes, making America great again. If not now, when? If not us, who?
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.
*A failed attempt to dislodge the House Speaker occurred in 1910. https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/the-revolt-of-1910-against-speaker-joseph-cannon/
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