Kevin McCarthy’s ascension to the role of Speaker of the House of Representatives isn’t a surprise to those who are informed by justified levels of cynicism regarding human nature. Although the 20 or so holdouts stood firm for a while, it became evident that the pressure valve would be released so long as McCarthy agreed to change House rules moving forward. According to some, this has been the entire point of the “Never Kevin” exercise: politicians like Matt Gaetz knew that McCarthy coveted the Speakership as much as Biden’s predilection for sniffing select young maiden’s hair. Hence, in order to be granted the position, he had to agree to certain conditions. Among them were:
– Reduce the threshold for a vote of the “motion to vacate” from the traditional five members of Congress to just one. (This is a rule that Nancy Pelosi did away with which had been part and parcel of House rules for years on end. Additionally, McCarthy’s concession over this point is the most important among the rest, as I’ll explain shortly.)
– Giving Freedom Caucus members increased presence on the diverse committees. (So-called moderate Republicans are incensed at this item because it may cause a few of them to be bumped off coveted assignments in favor of Freedom Caucus Members. Make no mistake, these seats are usually doled out to whomever collects the most money for the Party, not for the best qualified. Therefore, it isn’t only a source of hubris for these politicians to sit on these groups, it is a way to repay the lobbyists and special interests that helped them get elected. Thus, their opposition to this concession.)
– An open amendment process for all bills presented in the chamber.
– 72 hours to review bills before voting on said legislation and giving more power to rank and file members to alter them.
– Reimplementation of the Holman Rule which grants Congress more minute control over finances. For example, the House can change federal employee salaries and even defund federal programs. (The reason for this push is to cut down on the abuses perpetrated by the FBI, DHS and other bureaucracies by neutering their income to do so.)
Understandably, many voters are still incensed that McCarthy was handed the Speaker’s gavel. The anger is justified. McCarthy is the very epitome of “swampiness”. The man is a member of the World Economic Forum, has voted in favor of homosexual marriage, has endorsed the idea of Big Tech censorship, took money from the money laundering operation known as FTX and injected it into the 2022 midterms in order to defeat conservatives and favor more “electable” candidates, has been caught in an adulterous affair with another past member of the House and other such issues on his resumé. I can understand the frustration and share it.
However, I think it important to note that the Caucus probably knew that the majority of the Republican establishment wouldn’t vote for a more conservative candidate – even though that’s what the Party sorely needs now. Consider that the majority of the GOP is in fact structurally socialist in some way, shape or form. (That’s why the term “UniParty” is an accurate description of the current situation in D.C.) There’s a reason why most Republican politicians have rubber stamped the ever-increasing government centralization over most people’s lives and haven’t offered even the slightest resistance to it.
To the point, their second best option was to dangle the Speaker’s gavel carrot over Kevin’s head until he made the adequate concessions. Seems like a wonderful strategy, doesn’t it? There’s a massive caveat. (“You’re welcome”, for being the man who pours cold water over wild enthusiasm.)
Remember that the process for enshrining a new Congress is as follows: members-elect choose a Speaker, members-elect are sworn in, then comes the vote on the rules package. A majority has to approve the aforesaid package. There are grumblings in D.C. that “moderate” Republicans will seek revenge for the holdup for Speaker by attempting to scrap the deal made by McCarthy when the rules package comes to the entire floor for a vote. They are proposing working on new rules with the Democrats in order to gain their consensus and impede the rules the Freedom Caucus worked for. Herein is where the “motion to vacate” plays a crucial role. It appears as if the reason the Caucus demanded the motion to vacate rule be reduced from the traditional 5 down to 1 is to ensure the rules McCarthy conceded stay in their place. In others words, if McCarthy and other Republicans attempt to scrap the agreement with chicaneries, Freedom Caucus members will call for McCarthy to vacate the Speakership, bringing the House to a stalemate once again.
Will the gambit pay off? Time will tell. (This being said, I don’t make it a habit to bet against human nature. What I mean is, expect the worst and be utterly surprise and suspicious if something positive happens.)