House Held Hostage
Prior to the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans were confident that their party would gain many new positions in Congress, referred to as a Red Wave, in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Republicans ended up winning a slim majority in the House, receiving 221 seats, which is three more than they needed to be the party in power. This is a nine seat increase from what they had in the 2020 elections. Despite their win in the House and other small victories, the Red Wave never came, leading to the midterms being seen as an overall loss by many Republican leaders (The Guardian). Meanwhile, in the Senate, Republicans won 49 seats, giving Democrats the majority. Opinions on key issues such as abortion rights and the impending recession steered many voters to the left, resulting in less Republican votes than they hoped, one polling expert told The New Yorker. Senior Arman Omidvar gave another reason for why Republicans did not live up to their expectations in the midterms.
“Republicans performing how they did in the midterms was surprising to many people,” Omidvar said. “A reason for their loss is many Republicans have gotten tired of the Trump-like posturing in the party, such as Trump criticizing the military for warmongering and adventurism while he, himself, oversaw expansion of the military and orchestrated drone strikes, leading to less Republican votes from people who normally lean to the right.”
According to the New York Times, the slight majority Republicans hold in Congress will decrease the Republican Party’s, or GOP’s, chances of successfully passing legislation. On one hand, it is much more likely for bills backed by Democrats to be passed since just a few Republicans voting in favor of it would count as a majority. There are also severe factional divisions between moderate and extreme Republicans which cause inter-party conflict in Congress. The House Freedom Caucus, a faction of 40 far-right Republican lawmakers including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Rep. Lauren Boebart of Colorado, has garnered a reputation for voting against its own party’s bills and often not compromising on their ideals, making it difficult for Republican legislation to be passed. Freshman Karissa Galatsis agrees that the House Freedom Caucus will lead to challenges in the House.
“Since the Republican majority is so weak, all the party members need to be on board in order to successfully pass legislation,” Galatsis said. “Extreme representatives like Marjorie Taylor Greene will give the leader of the party a hard time since they have very extreme demands that most Republicans do not agree with.”
The Caucus created an issue when former House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy vied to become the Speaker of the House after Republicans won the majority. In order for him to be elected speaker, more than half the House needed to vote for him, including the Caucus. McCarthy has been in Congress for 16 years and has been vocal about his pro-life views and loyalties to former President Donald Trump, at a time when the Republican party is especially divided over their views on Trump (Washington Post). When the 118th Congress convened for the first time on Jan. 3, McCarthy did not receive enough votes to be elected speaker. This made Congress unable to function for several days since the House could not do anything until a speaker was chosen. Due to this, a second ballot took place which also ended without a speaker of the House. After 15 rounds of voting, McCarthy won the position. As predicted, members of the Caucus voted against McCarthy because they felt that he is not conservative enough and will not make serious changes in the House (British Broadcasting Corporation). It was only by agreeing to support lowering government spending bills and giving members of the Caucus key roles on House committees that they agreed to vote in his favor.
Despite Republicans not winning the strong majority they hoped for, they will still try to pass several reforms, led by their new committee leaders such as those from the House Freedom Caucus. These leaders will shift their committee’s focus to issues that Republicans have been vocal about for years. Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers will head the Energy and Commerce Committee, planning to scrutinize the origins of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and investigate TikTok’s data sharing and privacy guidelines. Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio is set to be the chairman of the Judiciary committee. A staunch supporter of Trump, Jordan plans to investigate the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which he says has become increasingly “politicized” after the seizing of classified documents at Trump’s home (New York Times).
While the Republican party boasts a majority in the House, the Democratic party is in control of the Senate, so Congress will be divided with a conservative house and liberal senate (The Associated Press). In order for legislation to be passed, both the House and Senate must have a majority in favor of the bill. Both parties being in favor of the same bill is unlikely, so passing bills will be a challenge for Congress. Sophomore Lucy Chai commented on the struggles a split congress will bring.
“Republicans will likely get to set the legislative agenda and chair all the committees which deal with issues like oversight, the economy and labor,” Chai said. “But honestly I think there will be many challenges for Congress to pass necessary functions like funding the government; it will be turned into massive battles as Republicans and Democrats use the deadlines for leverage.”
