Capitol Hill ushers in a new Congress today as Republicans take control of the House with Democrats still in control of the Senate. But the biggest storyline is potential inner turmoil with House Republicans.
A battle over who will be Speaker of the House could end up ultimately shaping what the two chambers can get done.
Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy hadn’t locked up the votes quite yet to grab the Speaker’s gavel as Congress got ready for their new term. He’s been trying to address concerns of his own party as some call for new leadership.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) formally announced his candidacy for speaker. Other hardliners like Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) were backing him.
“I wish that every single person held the views that you and I have about the need to transform Congress, but sometimes you have to make even members of your own team a little uncomfortable,” said Rep. Gaetz on his ‘Firebrand’ podcast while interviewing Biggs.
It’s important because McCarthy has been laying the groundwork for years for an ambitious Republican House agenda focusing on investigations into a variety of Biden administration issues.
Those include the business deals of the president’s son Hunter Biden, COVID-19 origins, as well as a committee focusing on competition with China.
Another renewed interest will be the focus on America’s southern border. House Republicans unveiled sweeping proposals before the holiday break.
Some of this agenda could hinge on whether or not McCarthy gets the votes for House speaker. There’s also an issue of how much he’ll work with GOP senators.
Congress already passed a bloated $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill with the help of 18 Republican senators joining Democrats to pass the bill.
Before the vote, McCarthy had warned GOP senators that their bills would be “dead on arrival” in the House if they voted for the spending plan.
Now the full House is set to vote on a speaker on Tuesday, the first day of the new Congress. The speaker vote hasn’t gone past the first round of voting in more than a century, but that could change if McCarthy doesn’t lock up some more yes votes. As of Tuesday, it was anyone’s guess for how it would play out in the battle for the gavel.
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