Another new Speaker

Not that there is ever a good time for the United States House of Representatives to be without a Speaker – and thus unable to consider any legislation – but now seems like a particularly unfortunate time to be in that situation, with no House-passed budget bills that could clear the Senate; ongoing wars in Ukraine, Israel, and elsewhere; and important work needed domestically and internationally around climate action and disaster relief.

The two leading candidates for Speaker, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, probably don’t have the votes to be elected by the majority Republican conference because they are too far to the right to work with the Senate to get legislation through both chambers.

I think the more moderate Republicans should look among their ranks for a nominee for Speaker who can work with Democrats to craft bipartisan legislation that can pass the House and the Democratic-majority Senate. The Senate has managed to pass all twelve fiscal year 2024 appropriation bills out of committee with large bipartisan majorities, which are in line with the spring debt ceiling legislation. If a new Speaker were to put these bills on the House floor, they could pass with Democratic and Republican votes from members who actually want to govern, as opposed to the Freedom Caucus and other similarly inclined Republican House members who seem intent on just not having a functioning government at all. (The Constitution stipulates that government funding bills must originate in the House, so the Senate can’t pass their version of the bills until the House acts.)

I believe that this Republican nominee should not be someone, though, who voted against certifying the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election after the mob had attacked the Capitol and sent members fleeing for their safety.

My hope is that, if a reasonable candidate comes forward and speaks with the Democratic leadership, the House Democrats will supply enough votes to elect a Speaker quickly so that needed legislation can be put in place, showing our citizens and the international community that our democracy can function in a civil way for the common good. If the new Speaker keeps their promise to preside in a bipartisan way, following the lead of the Senate, they would be insulated from threats by the far right Republicans to “vacate the Chair,” i.e. throw the Speaker out of their job as we just witnessed for the first time with the ousting of Kevin McCarthy.

House Republicans, it’s time for you to step up and put our country first. You were elected to govern, not obstruct. The Senators and President Biden have shown that bipartisanship is still possible.

Follow their lead.

Photo credit: Photo by Lucas Sankey on Unsplash