The Battle For Speaker Of The House

Diane Rehm: On My Mind

WAMU 88.5

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🗓️ 5 January 2023

⏱️ 34 minutes

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Summary

An historic stalemate is playing out in the fight over speaker of the House.

The last time it took more than one round of voting to fill the top job in the House of Representatives the year was 1923. This week Republican Kevin McCarthy has fallen short on ballot after ballot (9 at the time of publication).

Democrats predictably lined up behind minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, but it was actually a handful of far-right GOP lawmakers who have thwarted McCarthy’s bid. They continued to nominate and vote for other candidates, including former president Donald Trump, even as McCarthy’s camp promised concessions like positions for Freedom Caucus members on powerful committees.

Veteran journalist Susan Page has covered dozens of votes for speaker, but never one like this. She joined Diane to discuss what this fight says about the Republican party – and politics in America today.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I It's Diane, on my mind, the battle of the author of the house.
0:12.6	The year was 1923.
0:15.6	The last time it took more than one round of voting to fill the top job in our house
0:21.9	that represented it.
0:24.1	This week, Republican Kevin McCarthy fell short on ballot after ballot and the handful
0:32.4	of bar-right GOP lawmakers who voted against him seem unwilling to compromise, even as
0:42.1	McCarthy's campaign promises to meet their demands.
0:47.1	The turn journalist Susan Page has covered dozens of votes for a speaker, but never one
0:54.1	like this.
0:55.5	She joined me Thursday to discuss what this fight says about the Republican Party and politics
1:03.5	in America today.
1:07.0	Susan, as you and I are talking on Thursday morning, there have already been six votes.
1:16.9	None of them won by Kevin McCarthy, who for apparently a lifetime has wanted to be a speaker
1:27.4	of the house.
1:28.8	Tell me what's going on behind the scenes.
1:32.8	Well you know Diane, Kevin McCarthy has one fundamental problem, which is the Republican
1:38.1	majority is so narrow.
1:40.0	They just have 222 votes.
1:42.0	If he had gotten a bigger majority in the midterms, he would have some wiggle room to deal
1:48.4	with these very conservative members of the Freedom Caucus.
1:53.4	They could peel away.
1:54.4	He'd still have enough votes to win.
	...

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