Actually, the first session of the US Congress after the midterm elections in November is nothing more than a solemn affair. This time, however, the election for the chairman of the House of Representatives is explosive: at least five MPs do not want to support their party colleagues.
Shortly before the opening session of the new US Congress, the first ordeal is looming in the Republican Party: Due to resistance from the right wing, faction leader Kevin McCarthy has to contest his election as chairman of the House of Representatives this Tuesday and thus the most powerful opponent of President Joe Biden in the Parliament tremble.
At least five ultra-conservative MPs have said they do not want to support their 57-year-old party colleague. Efforts to change the group’s mind should therefore continue under high pressure in the morning. With only a slim Republican majority in the chamber, McCarthy can only afford four dissenters in his own ranks if, as might be expected, none of the Democrats vote for him.
The 118th Congress is convening for its constituent session later in the day and the swearing-in ceremony for the deputies and senators is due. Republicans won the majority of the House of Representatives in November’s midterm elections. However, they were not able to win as many mandates as expected in advance. The Senate remained in the hands of the Democrats. The Republicans have 222 seats in the new House of Representatives.
The Democrats are at 213. McCarthy needs at least 218 votes to succeed the previous chamber leader, Democrat Nancy Pelosi. If he were elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, he would rank third in the United States after President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. For Biden, the change of power in the House of Representatives means that he will have to reckon with significantly more headwinds before the next presidential and congressional elections in 2024.
But for a long time there has been a dispute among the Republicans between those members who, like ex-President Donald Trump, want to move the party further to the right, and a comparatively more moderate wing. McCarthy is facing accusations that he was not aggressive enough to stand up to the Democrats and Pelosi during his years as a minority leader in the House of Representatives.
It obviously didn’t help that he made concessions to dissatisfied party colleagues over the New Year’s weekend. “He’s part of the problem. He’s not part of the solution,” Republican Congressman Bob Good reiterated his rejection of McCarthy on Fox News on Monday. “There is nothing to suggest to me that he will change his approach.” He will therefore not vote for McCarthy.
