On a Speaker-less House on the Second Anniversary of the January 6th Attack
As Congressman-Elect Kevin McCarthy struggles to win the Speakership, several pundits have suggested that House Democrats either rescue McCarthy or unite behind another Republican candidate. The recent coalition successes in Alaska, Ohio, and Pennsylvania provide interesting examples. But let us be clear:
We are absolutely opposed to Democratic members-elect voting for Mr. McCarthy for Speaker and have deep reservations about Democratic members-elect supporting another Republican candidate without significant concessions by said candidate on the makeup of committees and the operation of House rules.
On Wednesday, Congressman-Elect Chip Roy quoted Dr. King’s admonition that we judge candidates “based on the content of their character.” While the person he nominated at the time — Congressman-Elect Byron Donalds — has lost support in subsequent rounds of voting, the principle is sound.
We do not know what is in Mr. McCarthy’s heart, but his actions suggest a flippancy toward our constitutional democratic order and a tendency toward the abuse of power. Even after correctly identifying ex-President Trump’s responsibility for the January 6th attack, a harrowing crescendo in a months-long effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, McCarthy became the first major Republican officeholder to visit Trump and remains dependent on his support to this day. What’s more, McCarthy is currently promising to gut the Congressional Ethics Committee and to elevate Jim Jordan — a man who appears in the January 6th report forty-seven times — to Chair of the House Judiciary Committee. McCarthy is also trying to curry favor with Congressman-Elect Scott Perry, the House member perhaps most involved in the plot to overthrow the election.
We are also opposed to elevating anyone to the Speakership who either signed onto the Texas lawsuit or voted to set aside the votes from Arizona or Pennsylvania, nor should anyone with that background chair a committee.
Finally, we are opposed to any coalition arrangement that seriously hinders the functioning of the nation, including the implementation of the Holman or Hastert rules on funding and passage of legislation and low thresholds for motions to vacate the chair.
If Republicans who are opposed to the radical MAGA wing of their party want to restore order in the US House and see to the people’s business, their path is clear: reach out to Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and work in good faith to find a coalition agreement that correlates with the significant Democratic Party support needed to put such a coalition agreement into place.
Working with a Speaker Jeffries partnered with, say, the Republican Governance Group — which includes Members-Elect Blake Moore and John Curtis — is a much better path for our country than two years of the chaos and division the House Republican Caucus as a whole seems to have on offer.
