From the 3rd of January to the 7th of January 2023, the United States Congress was missing a vast majority of its members thanks to the House of Representatives being unable to elect a new Speaker of the House. It took the House four days and fifteen ballots to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as Speaker. It is incredibly rare for a Speakership election to take more than one ballot, the last time being 100 years ago in 1923. During those four speakerless days, no Representative-elect could be sworn in and all 435 seats of the House of Representatives were considered to be vacant. Signifying that the House could not introduce any bills, could not vote on any bills passed by the Senate, and could not establish committees, which left Congress and the Legislative Branch frozen. The event also allowed for strange moments to be captured on camera like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), one of the most left-leaning Representatives talking with the very right-leaning Rep. Matt Gatez (R-FL). Another altercation involving Gatez was caught on camera when Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) lunged towards him and had to be restrained by a fellow Republican Representative after he voted “Present” on the 14th ballot (Gatez was the deciding vote). Usually, Rep. McCarthy would have had no problem winning the Speakership on the first ballot but this year a group of 22 far-right Republicans dissenters refused to vote for him unless he met their various demands. The group was big enough to prevent any nominee, Democrat or Republican, from reaching a majority. The group echoed that McCarthy and Republicans like him were not “conservative enough,” bound to special interests, were not doing enough to fight against the “radical left,” and wanted to decrease the power the Speaker holds. The group of dissenters demands included:
Decreasing the amount of power the Speaker holds. (The amount of power the Speaker holds has, in recent years, become more of a contentious issue. With politicians from both sides of the aisle claiming that the Speaker holds too much power since they control committee assignments and format debates in the House to benefit their agenda.)
Establishing a select subcommittee to investigate the “weaponization of the Federal Government,” much like in the fashion of the January 6 Subcommittee.
Allow a single Representative to force a motion to vacate the chair which would oust the Speaker. (Which contrasts with the rule under Rep. Pelosi (D-CA) that required a majority of a party to bring the motion to the House floor for a vote.)
Allocate more committee assignments to members of the far-right Freedom Caucus. Especially on the Rules Committee which decides which bills reach the House floor. (Most of the dissenters are members of the Freedom Caucus.)
Without meeting these demands, McCarthy would of never get enough votes. Which meant that he had to meet them or would have to step aside to allow another Republican candidate to win the election, or risk having the Democrats team up with a group of Republicans to elect a moderate candidate. Consequently, by the 15th ballot, McCarthy met most of the dissenters demands, including the substantial demand to allow only one Representative to force a motion to vacate. McCarthy also agreed to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics, a non-partisan office that investigates members of Congress on any potential infractions of ethical behavior. Some pundits believe that McCarthy paid too high of a price for the Speakership, noting that McCarthy may lay at the whims of the House Freedom Caucus. Some Americans are also concerned over how dysfunctional this Congress may become, pointing to the Speakership Election as evidence. Whatever the case may be, Americans can expect a greater far-right presence in Congress thanks to the concessions that Speaker McCarthy made to receive the gavel.
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