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Many readers know that I worked for six years in the 1990s as a congressional aide in the United States House of Representatives. Yet our Congress was divided and I was able to manage the work on both sides of the political aisle. reflects the But there are institutional dynamics in Congress that prevent the legislative session from starting in the new year.
First of all, if the Speaker of the House is not decided on the first day of the legislative session, the members of the House will not be able to begin their work. From committee posts to legislation, the US House remains at a standstill. Even operational issues were put on hold, such as House procedures and lawmakers’ office issues.
Many congressional officials and political scientists view the House and Senate as two very different legislative bodies. I remember the staff insisting on working in the Senate. Because their MPs were arguably more polite and organized. House staff, meanwhile, noted how lawmakers are connecting with voters. The Senate is also seen as a stalwart with individualistic lawmakers, but House members tend to be more troublesome and indecisive (a recent example is President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader At Mitch McConnell’s conference on infrastructure projects in Kentucky last week (compared to the House of Representatives, which habitually votes for speakers).
The House of Representatives has a lot of representatives from specific districts (districts after the most recent census), so they are rarely united. Also, his term as a member of the House of Representatives is only two years. That means elections are more frequent than for senators for six-year terms. These institutional considerations force House members to be less individualistic and find ways to work together in caucuses and factions. , factions can disrupt the legislative process.
The Liberal caucus has become a faction blocking the Speaker of the House vote. A Republican in the House of Representatives, he has a majority of just five, even though he has 20 members. Members of the Freedom Caucus have lobbied for favorable committee posts, cuts in federal spending, and allowing one of her members to challenge the Speaker of the House. But members of the Freedom Caucus have opposed US Congressman Kevin McCarthy (Republican, California) for years.
As much as the Democrats and much of the media are spinning this as a Republican issue, it is an institutional issue within the U.S. House of Representatives. Not all Republicans agree with the Liberal caucus tactics . Political parties, legislative leaders, and Congress as a whole are diverse. They represent different voices, politics and strategies. The Freedom Caucus’ attempt to disrupt the House Speaker’s vote was troubling and unorthodox.
For example, some want a coalition between moderates on both sides of the aisle, but the parties are so divided that they rarely cooperate on public policy matters and for institutional leadership. Unlike other representative democracies, our legislature is not a coalition. Because he has only two monopoly parties, Democrats and a handful of independent lawmakers who hold caucuses. Other countries have multi-party systems that rely on coalitions and efforts between political parties.
Instead, true reform must be systematically managed by legislators to prevent the political tactics carried out by members and factions of the Freedom Caucus to challenge our legislative process. But first, members of the House of Representatives must choose a Speaker.
Jonathan L. Wharton is Associate Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies and teaches Political Science at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven.
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