United States: MPs choose a Republican leader who will be held hostage by ultra-conservatives

After a maddening round of more than a dozen ballots, Republicans were well on their way to choosing the head of the United States House of Representatives, the third most powerful official in the United States, and thus ending the a historic and scandalous congressional paralysis that lasted more than 4 days, something that hadn’t happened in over a century.

Moderate Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy hoped this morning to finally garner two votes short of the 218 votes needed to become the “speaker” of the House, replacing the legendary Democrat Nancy Pelosi.

But the struggle it has had to wage to achieve this – the process is usually straightforward for the party that wins a majority in Deputies – leaves it with an extremely weakened leadership and there is no doubt that it will always remain on the edge of the abyss, depending on the more conservative .

Twenty radical members of his own party have blocked McCarthy’s nomination since Tuesday because they believe he won’tor is it sufficiently preservedry who was not very supportive of former President Donald Trump when questioned in Congress for his role on Jan. 6, 2021, when a violent mob stormed the building. This very Friday marks two years of that tragic episode.

The situation had led to an unprecedented institutional freeze: since the “speaker” is the one who takes the oath to the deputies, no one could have guessed why Congress couldn’t work.

In addition to the fact that laws could not be passed, other important issues were paralyzed because elected representatives did not have security clearances and therefore could not, for example, receive classified intelligence reports or access conflict analyses. Also, if a major crisis were to occur, the representatives would be unable to respond. A scandal in the first world power that proclaims itself the champion of democracy.

The rebels refused to address McCarthy, even though Trump himself had asked them to vote for him. Finally, after a feverish negotiation, this Friday The way began to clear thanks to several concessions to which the moderate legislator resigned. Gradually, he was adding votes from the rebel.

McCarthy has reportedly dropped some important items, such as With the vote of only one legislator, the removal of the speaker can be triggered (before there were 5). He also proposes a law that limits the length of mandates of members of Congress (they ask that they do not exceed 12 years) and another on border security.

In addition, the far right would gain approval power over some key committees, including a third of the members of the influential Rules Committee, which controls what legislation is passed and in what form. And spending accounts should be considered under so-called open rules, allowing any member to vote on an unlimited number of changes that could gut or scuttle the legislation outright.

It is true that McCarthy has managed to survive, but his task will be severely limited by the ultras. Indeed, only one legislator could activate a motion to remove him from office. And many tremble at the thought of what might happen when the debt ceiling has to be raised at the end of the year – which is often done to avoid government paralysis – with this ultra-conservative group who hate public spending.

The representative David Valadao, A California Republican and McCarthy ally, said more moderate members of the conference were increasingly concerned that the deals reached would give too much influence to the far right. Others privately point out that they will be tempted to agree in some cases with democratic representatives to stop any assault by the ultras.

“He will be the weakest speaker”, said Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. “The problem is that he has also weakened the institution in general, all because he wants the title of head of the Chamber, but without power or responsibility.”

As McCarthy gave more ground to the far-right group, it became clear that the lower house will be very difficult to control. With ultras allowed to abort spending bills or demand the president’s removal at any time, there are fears the chamber is dysfunctional and crippled to its foundations.

Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Ways and Means committee, said that “the problem for McCarthy is that, with every concession, he has to wake up every day wondering if he’ll still have his job. Because the slightest disagreement could lead to a motion by the body to remove him from office.”