By Jonah Marshall, Staff Writer
In the 2022 midterm elections, many pundits predicted that there would be a “red wave” in the House of Representatives. However, after the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June of that year, Democrat voters were highly motivated and sent a strong message at the ballot box. The “red wave” turned out to be more of a trickle, with the Republicans taking a slim majority of 222 – 213 seats. The House has a total of 438 members, so the party that achieves 218 seats is the majority party for the two-year term, and the Speaker of the House is usually then elected by the majority party.
When Republicans took office, in January of 2023, they were missing two key members who had served on the January 6th Special Committee, and been outspoken critics for former President Donald Trump. Republican Liz Cheney, WY lost her primary in 2022, and Republican Adam Kinzinger, IL decided not to run again as his district was redrawn into two adjacent districts after the 2020 Census. Even with a slim majority, Republicans should have had an easy time picking a speaker. Instead, it took them 15 ballots and several days to finally elect Kevin McCarthy, CA as the new Speaker. The Freedom Caucus in the House Republicans forced McCarthy to make several concessions in exchange for their support. Some eventually voted “present” to reduce the overall number of votes needed to elect a Speaker. There were even physical fights on the floor during the first days of the new Congress between Republicans Mike Rogers and Matt Gaetz. Democrats remained united on each vote, casting their ballots for the Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries. The chaos has continued into 2024.
One of those concessions allowed a single member to bring a vote to the house floor at any time to “Vacate the Speaker” or remove that person from the position, which far-right Republican members did in October 2023.
The turmoil did not end there. In September 2023 a spending bill called a Continuing Resolution was on the table; if it could not pass, the government would shut down forcing thousands of workers to either work without being paid or to be temporarily furloughed until funding could be approved. As Congress holds “the purse” – all federal funding – the President cannot fund the government through and Executive Order. McCarthy made deals with House Democrats to pass the CR. which angered those same far-right Republican members who held up McCarthy’s elevation to Speaker in January. They called for Speaker McCArthy to be removed, and they succeeded. No business can be conducted in the House without a Speaker. Some GOP members resigned in protest, shrinking the already slim majority.
Then in December of 2023, George Santos, NY was expelled over ethics violations. The GOp majority was down to three votes.
In May of 2024, there was another vote to oust the speaker, now Mike Johnson serving in the position. This time from Marjorie Taylor Greene – GA. This attempt failed 359-43.
Other failed legislation under the GOP House Majority included a refrigerator and dishwasher freedom bill, which passed the House but was not put forward in the Senate. Republican house members even admitted that they do not deserve the majority including Republican house member Chip Roy from Texas stating that Republicans have achieved nothing on their own.
Even Marjorie Taylor Greene agrees that she does not think Republicans deserve to be re-elected to the House majority.
Democrat Sean Casten, the Rep for Moraine’s district, blasted the bill exposing the Republicans for what they do when they get the majority.
Republicans in the House for the past year have led an impeachment hearing into Joe Biden into his connections with his son, Hunter Biden and Hunter’s business deals while Joe Biden was Vice President. Their prime witness – FBI informant, Alexander Smirnov – was arrested for lying to the FBI and his informants were also linked to Russia. Other Republican witnesses said they had no evidence to impeach the president.
As part of a CR last fall, Republicans insisted on funding for immigration reform before passing the funding bill. Several members of the Senate worked on a bipartisan immigration bill that would have closed the border, added immigration judges, added immigration officers, and added things like beds at detention centers. It passed the House, but failed to have a vote to even bring it to the floor of the Senate by Republicans influenced by Donald Trump who felt it would be a win for Democrats going into the Presidential Election. It has become a major campaign issue for Republicans, but Democrats are pushing back and laying the blame at the feet of Republicans and specifically Trump.
It is important to understand the chaos in the House from the Republican party before you cast your vote. This is no longer your father’s or grandfather’s GOP. It is now the party of Trump and his extremist enablers in the MAGA movement. They have shown time they do not know how to govern, and do not care about the American people.
