Happy New Year and new Congress! The 118th Congress began on Tuesday with a mix of new and seasoned Representatives. As is tradition, all House members were joined by their families in the Chamber to celebrate their first day on the job. Sadly for the families, they left without seeing the Representatives sworn in. The day’s agenda was halted by the lack of consensus on who should be elected Speaker of the House.
As expected, Former Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was nominated to the top-ranking position and was challenged by Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ). Many members of the Freedom Caucus have concerns about McCarthy’s ability to give conservatives a seat at the table. While McCarthy has vaguely agreed to some of the principles they laid out in their letter, there are still important issues that have not been addressed such as 1) will conservatives have a seat on the Rules Committee that decides how amendments and bills will be brought to the floor? 2) will investigating committees have the ability to subpoena witnesses without the approval of the Speaker? and 3) will the Speaker pledge to not get involved in primaries where in the past he has funded more moderate candidates? With Republicans having a slim majority, McCarthy couldn’t afford to lose votes. However, that is exactly what happened.
McCarthy lost the first ballot for the Speakership on Tuesday with Biggs receiving ten votes, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) receiving six votes, and Reps. Jim Banks (R-ID), Lee Zeldin (R-NY), and Byron Donalds (R-FL) all received one vote. While McCarthy still received 203 votes, it did not garner the 218 needed to secure his position. The House was forced to vote again for Speaker.
The second ballot changed the minds of some Republicans but not in a way that helped McCarthy. Those who voted for other Republicans joined their votes together for Jordan giving him nineteen votes. In 2018, Jordan challenged Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) for the Speakership and lost. Even though he stated he didn’t want the position this time and voted for McCarthy, his colleagues have appreciated his conservative leadership throughout the years. As these nineteen stood strong in their convictions, McCarthy failed the second and third bids for Speaker. Democrats nominated Rep. Hakeem Jefferies (D-NY) garnered 202 votes all three times. While it may appear that the Freedom Caucus is causing chaos, they are actually forcing debate on important issues that must be ironed out before the session begins. The Democrats, as usual, do not tolerate debate or diverging opinions in their caucus.
After three long votes, the House adjourned and Republicans canceled their celebratory pizza party. McCarthy and his supporters went back to the drawing board. Alternative ideas have been introduced such as implementing a secret ballot or lowering the vote threshold. He hasn’t ruled out negotiations with these members either. He stated, “If we want to get to 218, we have to keep talking.” Eagle Forum supported Rep.-elect Mary Miller (R-IL) summed up the first day best when she said, “It’s more drama than raising seven kids.”
The House returned on Wednesday to hold three more votes for Speaker. The House Freedom Caucus nominated Representative Byron Donalds (Robert-FL) and he garnered 20 Republicans during each round Wednesday. Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.), who voted for McCarthy three times on Tuesday, voted present Wednesday. The House will meet again today to try again.
The schedule for the next two weeks is unpredictable. However, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) has laid out the legislative priorities once the Speaker is elected and Members are sworn in. These bills deal with budget reductions, border security, American independence from China, support for law enforcement, and pro-life legislation. These short, readable bills are a great way to kick off the top issues of House Republicans.
Specific to life, Republicans plan to move forward with three bills on the issue. As one of the first pro-life bills promised, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act would require medical professionals to provide life-saving care to babies born alive during an abortion procedure. The second bill, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act, ensures that our taxpayer money does not support abortion services in insurance plans. Then, a resolution will be introduced to condemn the violence on pro-life facilities, groups, and churches.
Eagle Forum joined a coalition letter with other pro-life groups to support this type of legislation to urge Congress to do more on protecting babies diagnosed with down syndrome, restricting abortion-inducing drugs, conscience protections for medical professionals, and scheduling more hearings on these topics. We are hopeful that Republicans can unify on these pro-life principles.
House Republicans may have begun the new Congress off to a rocky start, but we are looking forward to their getting back to work and having a productive year.