
<p>The current situation in the House is something between chaos and hysteria. ; For the first time in American history, a Speaker of the House was ousted – and it came by the action of a small group of members of his own Republican Party.</p>



<p>How is it possible that eight out of 432 current members of the House can so dramatically overrule the majority?  ;It is simple. ; They cannot. ; They had to have the support of the entire Democrat membership. ; Speaker McCarthy was voted out by a coalition of Democrats and a handful of Republicans.</p>



<p>Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi – who was not present for the vote – had said it is up to the majority party to elect a Speaker. ; That may be her partisan opinion, but it is not true. ; A Speaker of the House is voted upon by the ENTIRE body. ; It is only a matter of pragmatic politics that comes from the majority based only on the votes of the majority. ; ; In the name of solidarity, Democrats proved the most votes against McCarthy. ; Even many Democrats believe that was a mistake.</p>



<p>According to McCarthy, Pelosi had promised him that if there was a Motion to Vacate, Democrats would have his back. ; Apparently, that changed when McCarthy blasted Democrats on the Saturday before the vote. ; Even the Democrat members of the Problem Solvers Caucus turned on McCarthy.</p>



<p>That is significant since it puts into the proper light the role of the Democrats.  ;Some of them could have crossed over to vote for McCarthy. ; Why should they? ; They readily conceded that the ousting of a Speaker would create chaos. ; It would hold up the important work of Congress in solving critical issues. ; It would put the future of funding for border security and Ukraine in question. ; It would signal instability to American adversaries overseas.</p>



<p>They could have prevented all that. ; Rather than avoid such negative outcomes, however, the Democrat caucus voted in lockstep to help create the chaos. ; They put aside the needs of the nation to be able to create a POLITICAL problem for the other party. ; But that is to be expected. ; That is politics Washington-style. ; I have no doubt Republicans would have done the same thing if the situation was reversed. ; It is just that we should not be fooled into believing that such Democrats’ action was in the best interest of the nation.</p>



<p>While McCarthy’s ouster was historic, it needs to be kept in mind that he agreed to the rule that one member can call for the chair to be vacated. ; That was historic, too. ; In that past, only the leaders could make a motion to oust a speaker. ; That was the rule under Pelosi – and the rule when Speaker Cannon called for a vote on his own leadership in 1910. ; Under the new rule, any member could move to Vacate the Chair. ; The fact that McCarthy agreed to it is another example of his boneheaded thinking.</p>



<p>Anyone who has followed my commentaries knows that I have never been a McCarthy fan. ; At the time of his election as Speaker, I opined that he was not the right guy for the job –saying he lacked the strategic and communication skills necessary for the job. ; The controversy and the resolution of the latest potential government shutdown was mishandled – another example of McCarthy’s failed leadership.</p>



<p>The fact that the faction led by Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz was successful does not mean that I am an admirer of his motives and actions. ; ; ; The fact that he was largely right about the decades of dysfunction does not mean his crusade against McCarthy was the correct course of action – especially when it appears that much of the motivation was Gaetz’ personal animus against the Speaker.</p>



<p>Though I was not a fan of McCarthy, I accepted that the issue of Speaker was settled until the next Congress convenes in 2025. ;  ; ;And it should have been.</p>



<p>The reason that did not happen was because of an insane rule that one member of the House can force a vote on the speakership at any time for any reason. ; It becomes a viable weapon when one party holds the majority by the slimmest of margins – in this case five votes. ; Imagine if it was only a one vote majority. ; A Matt Gaetz-type would not even have to find allies. ; When the House reconvenes under the gavel of a new Speaker, the elimination of that rule should be one of the first orders of business.</p>



<p>In this moment of high tension, Democrats, Republicans and the media are all seeing a future of chaos and dysfunction in the House. ; They say that the Republican Party will pay dearly in the 2024 election. ; House deliberations will be chaotic until then. ; Some wonder how Republicans can even elect a Speaker. ; One reporter went so far as to say that the Republicans may never be able to elect a Speaker. ; That is just hyperbolic sensationalized nonsense. ; But that is the atmosphere of the moment. ; It will pass.</p>



<p>The hyperventilating folks are ignoring the possibility that the Republican House members may elect a Speaker in short order – maybe even on a first ballot. ; That prospect increased when McCarthy wisely took himself out of the running. ; The fact that Congressman Jim Jordan and Scalise have both announced plans to run suggests that it may take more than one ballot.</p>



<p>For those who favor more than two viable political parties should learn from this situation. ; In essence we had three interest groups, and it was necessary to create a governing coalition. ; When that fails, the leader falls. ; That is what happened to McCarthy. ; He could not win over the opposition group in his own party – and he could not win over a handful of Democrats. ; He could not put together a coalition. ; Multi-party systems are by nature unstable.</p>



<p>It is more than a year before the American people head to the polls to elect a President and members of Congress. ; By then, the commotion of the moment will be beyond even the rearview mirror. The more important issues will be on the voters’ minds.  ;The outcome of the 2024 elections depends on future events – not the present or the past.</p>



<p>Apparently, Acting Speaker Patrick McHenry immediately ordered Pelosi and Democrat Whip Steny Hoyer evicted from their private voices in the Capitol Building. ; McHenry is an ardent supporter of McCarthy who showed his anger when he slammed down the gavel after announcing the vote. ; Evicting Pelosi and Hoyer was a needlessly petty action by one member with the temporary power to be … petty.</p>



<p>The Republican Party has an opportunity to elect a popular Speaker with both the strategic and communication skills to unite the Republican Party and the nation. ; Last January I had hoped that the House GOP would elect Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise as Speaker. ; I hope they will seize that opportunity again.</p>



<p>Scalise is very popular with virtually all the McCarthy members. ; Following the vote that ousted McCarthy, Gaetz said that he could vote for Scalise – among other members. ; South Carolina Democrat Congressman James Clybourn pointed to Scalise as a person his side could work with. ; That sounds like a lot of potential respect and unity.</p>



<p>When the Republican caucus meets next week, we should already have some indication of their intentions. ; I hope that Scalise is number one on that list of potential Speakers.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

McCarthy’s departure is a great opportunity for the GOP
