The battle over who would lead the chamber in the 118th Congress turned into a days-long chaotic battle.
Kevin McCarthy won the speakership after a hardline group of Republicans refused to vote for him until he made concessions. The GOP with newly complex divisions was revealed by the experience.
Kevin Kosar is a senior fellow at the American enterprise institute who studies congress and US politics.
For years, the GOP has been divided into two camps: those who support former President Donald Trump and those who don't.
McCarthy's job of navigating a slim majority may be more difficult now that the speaker battle shows that the bloc may be more unpredictable than previously thought.
Kosar said that there are facts within parties. It would be kind of weird if we didn't have a group of people.
He pointed to the progressive Democrats who have sparred with and made demands of their leadership as well.
The members of the House Freedom Caucus, many of which are members of the MAGA group, have united around similar causes and have taken the stances of Trump himself. They include Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.
The Republicans voted to overturn the election results on January 6, 2021.
Even after Trump took a stance, some of them were on opposite sides of the argument.
"Trump himself is yelling that people should get behind McCarthy and guess what, you've got 20 people just ignoring him," Kosar said, adding one can argue the "Trumpy tribe" of people in the House have actually diminished
McCarthy and Gaetz were the ones who led the charge against him. She said that Gaetz and other members of the Freedom Caucus shut her out of negotiations with McCarthy.
Do you know what's going on? After walking into Kevin McCarthy's office last night, Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, and the chairman of the Freedom Caucus made their own demands about who they wanted on committees, and who they didn't. Guess what? The Freedom Caucus didn't negotiate anything for me.
McCarthy and Jordan were standing behind each other. The guys used to be close. It's no longer possible. Kosar said not on this topic.
Many were watching to see if Trump chiming in would sway the votes, but when he endorsed McCarthy on Wednesday and urged lawmakers to get behind the Californian, the 20 holdouts didn't budge.
McCarthy made concessions in order to win the speakership. According to reports, those concessions may include a government spending cap and a House rules framework that would give more power to individual members.
McCarthy was said to have agreed to a rule change that would allow a single lawmaker to force a vote of no confidence in the speaker.
McCarthy will need the support of every member of his party in order to pass legislation. McCarthy will need some of their support in order to survive in the Republican conference.
It's not clear how effective McCarthy will be with the new divisions and animosities on display.
Will there be any sore heads after this is over? How many of the people who went to the mat on the other side felt the same way? Kosar told Insider before the vote.
How is that going to play out for the ability of the GOP to bring the team together and let go of the past? It's an open question.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
