An image taken as the voting for Speaker of the House commenced with several representatives arguing. photo by Jabin Botsford
The former Republican California representative, Kevin McCarthy is now the Speaker of the House.
The election for the Speaker of the House commenced on January 3rd and was finalized on the 7th, ending with Republican Kevin McCarthy being named the newest Speaker of the House. McCarthy is the 55th person to gain the threshold and will own the position until early 2025.
The opposition to McCarthy’s win has been strong; however, in 15 rounds of voting he managed to gain the majority of voters. In 2015, McCarthy sought out the title but dropped out due to strong resistance from conservative and democratic representatives. Besides the heavy opposition from some people within the House, Former President Donald Trump endorsed and pushed for McCarthy to be elected and eventually helped McCarthy win the threshold.
The Speaker of the House position holds a lot of power and is third in line for the Presidency after the Vice President. This succession puts a lot of responsibility on McCarthy. The Speaker holds many responsibilities such as managing proceedings, maintaining order within the House and overseeing the administration and business side of the House. One of Colorado’s representatives, Republican Lauren Boebert, opposed the election of McCarthy, she stated, “As it stands, I will not be voting for Kevin McCarthy,” She publicly criticized McCarthy on Twitter and openly spoke about him rejecting a deal about “unifying the conference” on social media. Despite this, Boebert ultimately voted “present” in the 14th and 15th rounds of voting, helping to give McCarthy a leg up in the final rounds. This decision from Boebert was unexpected. Even though Boebert is Republican her views clearly aren’t aligned with McCarthy which surprised viewers when she voted “present.”
As of 2022, the majority of the house is Republican. While this doesn’t mean too much for the future decisions from the House, having a majority leaning right can affect the balance of power between the parties. Additionally, McCarthy has been very open about his future agenda as Speaker. Some of his plans include, drastically cutting expenses towards social welfare such as Medicare and Social Security. To an extent, the election for Speaker of the House is speaking to the increasing competition between Republicans and Democrats that have governed politics for a while now. The bitterness shared between Democrats and Republicans will only continue to increase. The seemingly mainstream power complex between the sides will not conclude, and McCarthy is forecasted to stir the pot.
President Joe Biden put out a statement establishing his expectations with the collaboration between Republican and Democrats throughout the government. He stated, “The American people expect their leaders to govern in a way that puts their needs above all else, and that is what we need to do now. As I said after the midterms, I am prepared to work with Republicans when I can and voters made clear that they expect Republicans to be prepared to work with me as well.” Biden has attempted to encourage all members of the government to work in the best interest of the American people rather than in the business of their own profit.
Now that McCarthy is in office he has the power to control what amendments and bills are considered to be passed and has a much greater influence on the future of America.
