WASHINGTON (AP) January,3 – The new Congress begins with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reaching for political survival. He could be the first congressional candidate in 100 years.
Democrats ceded control of the House after losing the midterm elections, and lawmakers will convene on Tuesday for a new era of divided government.The Senate remains in Democratic hands, but Republicans in the House are in Washington. eager to accept President Joe Biden’s agenda after two years of Democratic power monopoly.
But first the House Republicans must elect a Speaker. McCarthy is set to replace House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but he is entering the ballot with no guarantee of success. The California Republican faces deep-seated critics within his own peers. Despite her flattering, preaching, and attempts to persuade her, McCarthy has failed, even with the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.
A showdown at noon will very likely devolve into a protracted ground battle in the House, a spectacle that will divide the Republican Party, undermine its leadership, and engulf the first few days of the new Congress.
A new generation of Republicans close to Trump are leading the opposition to McCarthy, inspired by the former president’s slogan, “Make America Great Again.” They don’t think McCarthy is too conservative or tough to fight the Democrats. It marks the last time Republicans regained control of the House after the 2010 midterm elections, ushering in a new era of hard-line politics for the Tea Party class, and ultimately for the House Speaker. That’s when I took John Boehner out of early retirement.
Normally, to become Speaker of the House, he needs a majority of his 435 members of the House, or 218 votes. With a small majority of 222 seats, McCarthy can only afford a handful of critics. Speakers like Pelosi and Boehner could win by fewer than 218 votes if some lawmakers were absent or simply attended and voted. But McCarthy, despite weeks of closed-door meetings and promised home rule changes, has failed to attract a core group of right-wing Republicans led by the conservative Freedom Caucus, leaving a potential Nearly a dozen Republicans have publicly voiced their concerns about McCarthy.
Second-ranked House Republican Rep. Steve Scalise (Louisiana) was well-liked by his peers and some after surviving a brutal shooting during congressional baseball game training in 2017. Clearly a conservative who is considered a hero by the people of
Former rivals McCarthy and Scalies became a team. On Monday, Scalis’ office dismissed another Republican lawmaker’s suggestion that Scalis was calling about the president’s campaign as an “error.”
The House can appoint a speaker, participate in basic trials, and launch investigations into the Biden administration expected to form the core of the Republican agenda.
The turmoil in the House on the first day of the new session could be in stark contrast to the other side of the Capitol, where Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell officially becomes the longest-serving party leader in history.
When McCarthy held a conference call with Republicans on New Year’s Day to announce the new package of House rules, Perry sent a new letter of concern signed by eight other Republicans and said the changes hadn’t gone far enough.
