Democracy can be messy at times, since it encourages people to form their own opinions and to stand by their convictions. We are seeing it this week as the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives cannot decide on whom to appoint as its speaker.
This is literally a once-in-a-century event. The last time the House failed to elect a speaker on the first ballot was in 1923.
As of Wednesday, 20 members of the Republican majority continued to refuse to support the leading candidate, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California. He reportedly has made a number of concessions in an unsuccessful attempt to win the 218 votes he needs.
The stalemate has its roots in the surprising results of the midterm elections. With Democrats in charge of Congress and the White House, and with inflation and other economic problems hitting Americans hard, virtually everyone expected Republicans to gain a tidal wave of seats — up to 30 or 40.
Instead, the GOP added only 10 seats to its side two months ago, giving the party control of the House, but by a much slimmer majority, 222-212, than expected (one seat is vacant). That meant McCarthy could lose no more than four Republicans.
In each of six roll-call votes Tuesday and Wednesday, McCarthy lost many more Republicans than that. Arch-conservatives who oppose him have not backed down, and at this point it’s hard to see how McCarthy will be able to get to a majority.
Sooner or later the majority of Republicans who support McCarthy are going to have to look elsewhere. And it would not be a surprise if they look to Democrats to help them elect a compromise Republican candidate.
So far, the Democrats in the House have voted unanimously for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York. If McCarthy’s supporters could come up with a Republican candidate that just a few Democrats could tolerate, it would break the logjam.
That idea seems like a long shot. How many Democrats will vote for a Republican speaker without having it thrown at them in the 2024 elections?
Republican conservatives would be furious, too, but the bonfire would be one of their own making. They may have legitimate concerns about the direction of the government under President Biden, but they tolerated giant budget deficits when Donald Trump was president. You can’t have it both ways.
McCarthy’s supporters also complain that while the conservatives love to rail about what they’re against, they can’t articulate what they’re for, and that is not a governing strategy. It is a fair point.
The more likely solution is that Republicans figure out a way forward on their own. To do that, the GOP members will have to find someone besides McCarthy, and besides one of the conservatives who received votes during the first six roll calls. It would have to be someone that both sides can live with — a reasonable accommodation that is unreasonably hard to reach.
