Kevin McCarthy Drama Underscores Impotence of Republican Elite
Commentary
After Republicans clinched their narrower-than-expected new House majority in November’s midterm elections, the only relevant questions for Congress-watchers seemed to pertain to what Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) impending House speakership would look like.
To what extent, if any, would he return House rules to “regular order,” whereby bills are drafted and marked up in decentralized committees, rather than unilaterally imposed by the speaker’s office? To what extent would he stack committee chairmanships with like-minded allies, and to what extent would he be forced to offer some chairman gavels to skeptical conservatives? To what extent would he direct the new Republican majority to focus on passing substantive legislation, and to what extent would he focus on subpoenaing and investigating the Biden administration? Would the so-called “motion to vacate” the speaker’s chair be restored to the prerogative of a single House member, as was the case for two centuries?…