Ugly. Chaotic. Disruptive. These and other pejoratives graced headlines last week as House Republicans wrestled with the question of who would be the next speaker of the House of Representatives.
One missing descriptor? Necessary. …
Critics ranging from Democrat Representative Juaquin Castro to Republican Matt “Never Kevin” Gaetz have remarked that these changes strip the speakership of essentially any power at all.
And that’s the point. Nancy Pelosi was the most powerful House speaker since the notorious Joseph Cannon a hundred years ago. Through brinksmanship, Chip Roy and his band of Republicans have remade the office of the speaker, making the House of Representatives more small-d democratic than it has been in decades.
[At first, I was aghast at the fact that the House GOP didn’t get this hashed out before the session opened last week. I still think that’s a fair criticism of the conference as a whole, and a failing of McCarthy as leader. But if they can get their work done over the next 20 months, no one’s going to care that it took 15 ballots to get McCarthy elected. And if they don’t get their work done, then electing him on a first ballot wouldn’t have mattered when it comes to the 2024 election either. — Ed]
Join the conversation as a VIP Member