by Mohamad el Sahely | Staff Writer
After the recent US legislative midterms in November, where the Republicans managed to win a small majority in the House of Representatives, the House elected California representative and Republican leader Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House; after the end of Nancy Pelosi’s long tenure under a democratic majority. However, McCarthy’s supposedly guaranteed bid went through an astounding fifteen ballots, which exposed the lack of consensus on McCarthy among Republican representatives. To get the requisite number of votes, McCarthy had to make a number of concessions which are bound to make the next two years a period of legislative atrophy.
After extensive negotiations, the group of representatives who support former President Donald Trump, which was obstructing McCarthy’s election, acquiesced and voted for him in the fifteenth ballot of the election. And thus ended a state of chaos not seen in Congress in more than 160 years, which foreshadows extensive debate and possible chaos in the House over the next two years. “I am ready to work with Republicans when possible, and voters have clearly indicated that they expect Republicans to be willing to work with me,” Biden said in a statement. “It is time to govern responsibly,” he also added.
Over the election period, tensions were running high in the Republican camp, especially as more and more ballots failed to give McCarthy the speakership, which was supposed to be an easy win given the Republican majority in the House. McCarthy eventually started accusing dissenting Republicans of purposefully obstructing the election, especially as more ballots failed to get him the necessary votes. Several representatives, such as Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz, recommended McCarthy drop out of the race in favor of another consensus candidate. The resulting infighting exposed the weakness of the Republican party after an underwhelming performance in the midterms.
The shadow of Donald Trump, while greatly diminished, continued to loom large over a highly fractured Republican party. After many of his endorsed candidates in the midterms failed to win election or re-election, there were loud voices in the party who demanded it detach itself from the former president. It is speculated that the GOP’s disappointing performance in the elections
was related to Trump’s continuing influence and intervention. Trump earned nationwide condemnation after he refused to acknowledge his loss in the 2020 elections, and when his supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6 to present the certification of election results.
McCarthy had to make significant concessions for dissenting Republicans, many of which
threaten Congress’s business and McCarthy’s position itself. Perhaps the biggest rules change is what’s known as the “motion to vacate the chair.” This effectively allows one member to force a vote to remove McCarthy as speaker at any point. McCarthy allies might not like the leverage this provides McCarthy’s critics, but given that this threshold effectively existed for more than a century before 2019 — it’s simply more of an imminent threat now — it seems unlikely to be a sticking point. However, this just puts him in more jeopardy.
The future does not look promising for the Republican party. The result of the midterms, and the consistent association of the party with the actions of Donald Trump, only bodes trouble for them moving forward. This has already began showing in public perception, as Trump’s presidential bid remains low-key and is expected to face extensive competition from people like Mike Pence or Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a rising star in the GOP. Will the GOP manage to regroup before facing one of the toughest presidential races in its history, internally and externally? Or will Democrats stay in power going on?