According to Reuters, Democratic Party members and a group of conservative Republican lawmakers voted in favor dismiss the Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy. In the immediate future, Mr. Patrick McHenry, a member of the Republican Party, will be the acting Speaker of the House of Representatives.
According to regulations, he has limited authority and cannot conduct normal legislative activities. Mr. McHenry’s main task is to conduct a vote to elect a new Speaker of the House of Representatives.
According to Bloomberg news agency, Mr. McHenry announced plans to hold this vote on October 11. Until new leadership is in place, the House cannot vote on bills, including the fiscal 2024 spending bill.
If the election process deadlocks, House of Commons may grant time-limited authority to Mr. McHenry to preside over the debate and vote on regular bills. However, that decision will require a majority of members of the House of Representatives to support it.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy spoke after being removed from office on October 3. Photo: REUTERS
The Democratic Party plans to continue to nominate Mr. Hakeem Jeffries, who faced Mr. McCarthy in the election for speaker of the House of Representatives in January. Meanwhile, the Republican Party may take more time to find a candidate. prominent member after Mr. McCarthy announced he would not run for this position again.
The top challenge is that this party is deeply divided internally with different factions pursuing different priorities and goals. For example, a group of conservative lawmakers are demanding drastic cuts in federal spending.
Furthermore, the voting process to elect a new Speaker of the House of Representatives, if it takes place, could take a lot of time. In the voting last January, Mr. McCarthy had to go through 15 rounds, a record high number, to sit in this hot seat.
The vote to remove Mr. McCarthy from office took place just days after the House of Representatives voted to pass a temporary budget bill for the government.
The above new developments will increase uncertainty regarding government spending, including billions of dollars to aid Ukraine and meet other international needs. The US government faces the risk of shutting down on November 17 if Congress does not promptly compromise on spending issues.
“The House will be paralyzed, we can see inconclusive votes week after week while also being unable to do other work” – Republican congressman Tom McClintock warned. report on the future.
Some other members worry that the chaos in the House could weaken the party’s negotiating position in upcoming debates, especially on spending issues.
Many experts also believe that the above deadlock situation could have economic consequences, especially when worries about the risk of a government shutdown still exist. Mr. Brian Gardner, an expert at Stifel Bank (USA), commented that markets may react negatively to what has happened.