This past Monday evening, the House of Representatives laid down a set of rules that will determine how the lower chamber carries out its business over the next two years under the guidance of newly elected Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
Every single Democrat in attendance issued a vote against the recently drafted rules package while on the other hand close to every single Republican issued a vote in favor of it. The finalized tally sat at 220-213. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) held the title of the single Republican to jump the aisle and vote with Democrats against the resolution. Additionally, the clerk for the House marked down Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) as not choosing to vote. The book of rules sported a few key concessions from McCarthy to try and seduce hardline conservatives who were holding up his rise to the speakership last week.
220-213: The House passes a rules package that contains concessions to far-right Republicans, including the ability for one House member to bring up a vote to oust the Speaker.
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) was the only Republican to vote “No,” joining all Democrats. pic.twitter.com/CkTGkzhwZH
— The Recount (@therecount) January 10, 2023
A number of other provisions seen in the rules package included making it much harder to increase the debt limit and preparing the ground for the building of a Judiciary select committee that will be slated with the task of looking into the “weaponization of the federal government.” The expected chair of that upcoming panel is slated to be Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).
As the third-ranking Republican in the House, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) also bragged about how its members would “restore the People’s House” with these new rules by putting a stop to proxy voting and creating a requirement of at least 72 hours after the release of the text of the bill before a final vote can be held.
Today, House Republicans will vote on a Rules package that will restore the People’s House by:
– Ending proxy voting
– Mandating at least 72 hrs after release of bill text before a final vote
– Establishing oversight plans to hold the Biden Admin accountable— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) January 9, 2023
Due to still maintaining control of both the White House and the Senate, Democrats raised issues about a number of reports which highlight the existence of a secret “addendum” to the rules package, which PunchBowl News claimed was met as part of the McCarthy’s dealings with members of the House Freedom Caucus to garner the support of its members on his path to secure the speaker’s gavel.
“What I’m not concerned about is not just what’s written down here,” explained the lead Democrat from the Rules Committee, Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, as explained by The New York Times. “I’m concerned by the back-room deals that Speaker McCarthy made with the Freedom Caucus in exchange for their votes.”
Prior to the vote this past Monday evening, Rep. French Hill (R-AR) expressly denied that any “addendum” to the package existed. “There’s no three-page addendum. There’s no extra stuff. Everything in the House rules package is posted on the House website,” he stated while on the floor of the House.
