Democrats cry foul as Republicans try to make it harder for House to oust speaker

02 January

This Friday, January 3, 2025, a new Congress will be seated in the United States — and Republicans will have small majorities in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.

Senate Republicans have already decided who their leader will be: Sen. John Thune of South Dakota. But in the House, it remains to be seen whether Republicans will vote to keep Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) as their speaker or go with someone else.

Some lawmakers fear a repeat of the chaos the House experienced in 2023, when then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) wasn't confirmed as speaker until the 15th vote — only to be ousted nine months later when then-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) triggered a "motion to vacate."

But if a proposed rules package is accepted, according to Politico, it will be become more difficult to oust a speaker.

In an article published on New Year's Day 2025, Politico reporters Jordain Carney and Meredith Lee Hill explain, "The proposed rules package would require nine GOP members to back making a motion to vacate to trigger a vote on ousting the speaker. That's an increase from the current rule, which allows any single GOP member to force a vote….. Even after a vote is triggered, it still requires the support of a majority of the House in order for a speaker to be removed."

The "deal to increase the threshold," according to Carney and Hill, was "negotiated" in November 2024 "by members of the House Freedom Caucus and the small business-oriented Main Street Caucus."

But while the House Republicans who are pushing the proposed rules see it as a chance to avoid the chaos that occurred when Gaetz set off a "motion to vacate" against McCarthy, some House Democrats are crying foul — as only Republicans, under the proposed rules, could force a vote on removing a speaker.

Axios' Andrew Solender, in an article published on January 2, reports, "Top Democrats are arguing the move would inhibit bipartisanship and effectively make House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) answerable only to his members — not the entire House."

One of those Democrats is Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts.

In a statement, McGovern complained, "This makes it clear that they have no intention of working together to find common ground…. Instead of electing a speaker of the House, they have decided to elect a speaker of the Republican conference — held hostage by their most extreme members."

Similarly, Rep. Joe Morelle (D-New York) told Axios, "It's a very dark day for democracy in America if this is adopted…. What's next? Allowing only Republicans to speak on the floor?"

Solender reports that Democratic lawmakers "are likely to follow McGovern's lead and close ranks against the package, a senior House Democrat told Axios."

"For most of U.S. history," Solender explains, "any singular House member in either party has been able to introduce a motion to vacate. That changed in 2019, when House Democrats took control of the chamber and made it so that it could only be introduced at the direction of either the House Democratic caucus or the House Republican conference. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), as part of a deal to obtain the speakership in 2023, brought back the single-member rule."

Read the full Politico article at this link and The Hill's reporting here.

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