Brendan Machado

27 October 2023

Republicans and Democrats are looking at an impossible situation. During this current Congress, there will be a constant fight over the speakership because of the motion to vacate (1). This perils former Speaker McCarthy and threatens whoever comes after him. However, Democrats should view this as an opportunity to extract concessions from moderate Republicans in the future. 

The bloc of members that have resolved to impede the government has shown no desire to make any deals that would let the government function. This bloc is spearheaded by Matt Gaetz of Florida and Bob Good of Virginia. One of the main concessions they are asking for is significant cuts to the federal budget. Additionally, they want to vote on each appropriations bill individually instead of the package of bills that has become the norm in recent years (2). They also hold the power to hold a vote to oust McCarthy. As part of the new rules when McCarthy was elected Speaker, he agreed to change the number of votes required for a motion to vacate—a motion that forces a vote to remove the speaker—to one. This forced McCarthy to bow down to the many demands of the insurgent bloc, as the insurgents held the motion to vacate over his head (3). 

The appropriations bills that come out of the Republican-majority House have a small chance of becoming law in their form. They have to reconcile the bills with the Senate, and they face a President who will veto any bills that contain anything he disagrees with. However, many in the Republican caucus are wary of continuing to pass resolutions that fund the government at the previous level for a set number of days. This punts the appropriations bills down the road. 

For the Republicans, a viable but risky solution would be to work with Democrats. This is an incredibly risky solution because it would mean that, in this highly polarized world, they are working with the enemy. However, many in the Republican caucus have the desire to have a working government. There is already a Republican Congressman, Mike Turner, who stated that if all options fail, Republicans should look into working out a deal with the Democrats (4). Securing a deal with Democrats may be the only way to have a functioning government until the next elections. Additionally, many Americans feel that politics has turned into Republicans and Democrats fighting each other over just governing (5). There could be a positive reaction from many voters, including Republicans, if they see their politicians working to get the government moving instead of just fighting the other side. 

From the Democratic point of view, one thing that Democrats could demand is an end to the impeachment investigation. There are pros and cons of ending it, since it might look like Democrats are trying to hide something if they get rid of it. In previous cases of impeachment, there was variance as to whether the impeachment hurt approval ratings. At the beginning of the Nixon impeachment, his approval rating was around 50%. However, it steadily fell as more facts came out about the Watergate affair. However, during the Clinton impeachment, his approval rating never slipped below 60% and actually jumped to 73% almost a year after the impeachment trials (6). Biden’s approval rating is already fairly low, so there may be no benefits to letting the impeachment inquiry continue. Democrats could also demand to have equal representation on the important Rules Committee. This committee decides what legislation can make it to the floor for a vote. Finally, Democrats would be able to demand concessions for the appropriations bills that are due in a month. This could take the form of demanding that the various abortion-related amendments be stripped from the bills. Or, it could take the form of asking for favored programs of Democrats to be funded or included. 

This solution brings the potentiality that Democrats and some moderate Republicans can work together for the rest of the year until the 2024 elections. This could lead to more bipartisanship and more legislation from the government, which benefits everyone. This solution also works for Democrats because they can show to their constituents that they are working, even when they don’t have the majority. They can also extract some leverage from moderate Republicans to allow some of their agenda and policies into the legislation. 

This is a highly politicized and polarized country, and the return of bipartisan politics would be a welcome sight for many in the country. With a split government, it is extremely hard to get legislation through the two houses of Congress. However, with the Senate already demonstrating that this is possible, the House should work together to form a governing body that can resume the passing of bills. This would be in the best interest of all sides and show that the government can continue to be productive for the American people. 

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References

(1)  “How a Speaker of the House Can Be Ousted by Congress with a ‘Motion to Vacate.’” NBCNews.com, January 10, 2023. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/speaker-of-the-house-ousted-motion-to-vacate-rcna64902.

(2)  Talbot, Haley, and Kristin Wilson. “McCarthy Works through Weekend but No Progress on Short-Term Fix with Just One Week until Shutdown | CNN Politics.” CNN, September 24, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/23/politics/mccarthy-government-shutdown-progress/index.html.

(3) “McCarthy Stares into the Shutdown Abyss.” POLITICO. Accessed October 18, 2023. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/23/mccarthy-stares-into-shutdown-abyss-00117658.

(4)  “Republican Lawmaker Says a Deal with Democrats ‘will Have to Be Done’ If GOP Can’t Break Speaker Impasse.” NBCNews.com, October 16, 2023. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/republican-lawmaker-says-democratic-deal-will-done-gop-cant-break-spea-rcna120554.

(5)  Nadeem, Reem. “Americans’ Dismal Views of the Nation’s Politics.” Pew Research Center – U.S. Politics & Policy, September 19, 2023. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/09/19/americans-dismal-views-of-the-nations-politics/.

(6) Carlos Martín, Carolyn Kousky, Vanessa Williamson, Maya Elliott Brad Olsen, and Katelyn Fletcher Elias Blinkoff. “Impeachment and Public Opinion: Three Key Indicators to Watch.” Brookings, March 9, 2022. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/impeachment-and-public-opinion-three-key-indicators-to-watch/.