In Brief
October Begins with a Twist and Bang Thanks to the House of Representatives
Forget daytime soap operas or evening must see television, the best drama on TV right now is happening on CSPAN! On Saturday, just hours before fiscal year (FY) 2023 was set to expire, House Democrats joined with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to pass a ‘clean’ continuing resolution (CR) to maintain government funding for another 45 days and allow time to negotiate for FY24. It was a twist worthy of Alfred Hitchcock.
The rebuke ofthe bipartisan effort, however, was swift and severe. When the House returned to session on Tuesday, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) filed a motion to vacate the Speaker on the House Floor. Gaetz, one of the architects behind the 15 rounds of voting that it took to confirm McCarthy in the Speaker role back in January, followed through on his threat to oust McCarthy over any perceived failure to the republican caucus. As part of the deal negotiated to elect McCarthy, the threshold needed to file a motion to vacate was lowered to a single member of the House of Representatives. On Wednesday, the 118th Congress set another dubious record, the first ouster of a Speaker of the House in the chamber's 200+ year existence.
Regardless of your party affiliation or feelings about now-former Speaker McCarthy, Rep. Matt Gaetz or any of the other seven members who supported the ouster, this situation is quickly devolving from bad to worse with just over 40 days before we are once again faced with a potential government shutdown. Following Tuesday's historic vote, Republicans conferenced amongst themselves and then Speaker Pro-Tem Patrick McHenry (R-NC) adjourned the House until Tuesday, October 10.
Under McCarthy we had a Speaker of the House with no real teeth to his gavel and a very vocal minority within the party that was prepared to go to extremes. With McCarthy now out, the Republicans must now find a new candidate for Speaker that can appeal and secure the votes of an even more divided caucus. Several candidates have begun throwing their hats in the ring, from Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) to Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) to Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern (R-OK). Whether others enter the race, a contest between long-time party stalwarts Scalise and Jordan could turn nasty quickly, as both must court Gaetz and his party of eight – winning at least half over – to secure the Speakership. The obvious question becomes what concessions might they have to make in order to secure the gavel, as McCarthy did a mere 9 months ago, and what implications does that mean for a full FY24 federal budget and funding for federal research agencies?