By the time this is posted and read, the new U.S. Speaker of the House may already be chosen. Thus far, Rep. Kevin McCarthy has failed six times to win the votes needed to take the gavel. In fact, rather than gaining ground as the voting continued, in the third round of votes, McCarthy actually lost support. This is the first time in a century that a vote for Speaker hasn’t been decided on the first ballot.
As of this writing, 20 Republicans have thrown their support behind Rep. Byron Donalds for Speaker. Regardless of who gains the necessary support to become the GOP leader, I disagree with many who see the Republican infighting as a bad thing.
It should come as no surprise that liberals would label what’s going on as a “drama” or a “horror show,” as CNN has.
But many who claim to be conservative are seemingly losing their minds over what’s going on as well.
In an interview with CNN, Rep. Dan Crenshaw accused the GOP holdouts of seeking “notoriety over principle.” Crenshaw went on to imply they were “narcissist[s]” and made it clear that he believes “they are enemies now.”
Quite a few Fox News personalities seemed to be upset over how the process is playing out. On Tuesday’s episode of The Five on Fox News, the hosts aired out their frustrations.
Jesse Watters started by saying, “Not a good look for Republicans tonight.” He then handed the conversation to Judge Jeanine Pirro, who responded by saying, “No. Your ordinary American is sitting home and saying, ‘What the heck is wrong with these people?’” Pirro went on to say, addressing the 20 holdouts, I assume, “You know, it’s time to get together as a party and stop embarrassing yourselves in front of the rest of us.”
Perino even said, “This small group of holdouts … make ‘the squad’ look positively reasonable.”
Watters wondered, “How long can this last?”
Greg Gutfeld said, “It’s just bad. It’s like the Republicans read a book by the Democrats saying how to really screw up your party.”
To be fair, I understand the desire to move the process forward in order for the Republicans to begin enacting their agenda and making good on their promises to their constituents. New members of Congress can’t even be sworn in until a Speaker is chosen.
However, I don’t believe that allowing the process to play out is a bad thing, even if it takes some time. In fact, it’s my opinion that so much of what’s wrong in D.C. is because things are often rushed through without time for debate. Bills are passed without being read. Money is spent without having a full accounting of where it’s going. Politicians make decisions that will affect their constituents without having ever really listened to their constituent’s thoughts. It’s become the status quo.
Washington really is a “swamp” with swamp creatures who bristle anytime someone throws a kink in their plan. That’s why Trump was so hated.
This debate over Speaker is not bad; it’s actually good. It just seems bad because it goes against the status quo. God forbid we elect a Speaker who will offer more than platitudes but will actually follow through on all the election promises.
Though I don’t agree with everything he said, David Harsanyi, senior editor at the Federalist, wrote about the false notion that there is something nefarious about Congress sparring over who their next Speaker will be.
Harsanyi wrote that there isn’t:
“… anything particularly ‘dysfunctional’ about disagreeing on the question. McCarthy isn’t an admiral or preordained by the Lord to be speaker, so this isn’t ‘mutiny,’ it’s just a vote. Indeed, a battle over leadership shows a more democratic dynamic than the typical lockstepping on the matter. In most other democratic nations this kind of parliamentary fight would be considered tame and completely expected.”
One thing is for certain, more of the same will result in more of the same. We all know Washington is broken. Why resist the possibility of a change most of us so desperately desire?
