Republican on Wednesday nominated Steve Scalise as the Speaker of the House of Representatives. This comes after Mr. Kevin McCarthy was ousted as the Speaker with the historic No-Confidence motion. Republican Patrick T. McHenry who supported Mr.McCarthy is serving as acting House speaker until a new leader is chosen; it’s unclear how much authority he has since the powers of an acting speaker have not yet been tested.According to scholars the House can’t do much without an elected speaker. Eight House Republicans and Democrats had voted to remove McCarthy.
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Who is the Speaker of the House of Representatives?
A Speaker oversees the lower chamber of Congress,and the US Constitution established the role.
Practically,the House’s legislative agenda, controlling committee assignments, setting the vote and work calendar,and responsibility for keeping their party members unified behind major initiatives, is done by the Speaker.
It is one of the most powerful positions in the chamber in Washington.They can make or break a US president’s agenda, stymie opposition, and spearhead their party’s biggest legislative initiatives.
An effective Speaker will be able to control rebellious lawmakers by incentives and punishments,while also marshalling their members behind their party’s agenda.
Choosing of the Speaker
The House of Representatives functions on a two-year cycle, known as a “session.” The new Congress session began on January 3,with Republicans in majority.
Voting for a speaker of the House is the first thing the House of Representatives must do,the chamber wouldn’t move to any other function without that. The Speaker is elected by continuing to hold votes.
To be elected as a Speaker the candidate requires to receive the support of a majority in the House with 218 votes.It is assumed that the existing leader of the majority party would be the person to attain the position of Speaker of the House.
There also exists a ‘minority leader ‘ of the party in minority. The minority leader do not have control over the House and its functions,compared to the Speaker. They instead wield the power to keep the lawmakers of their faction United in opposition to the majority, of advance bipartisan efforts.
Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York was selected as the Democratic minority leader, in the 118th Congress.
Outsing of Republican McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy is the first speaker ever that a US House of Representatives Speaker has given a no-confidence vote.
Removal of the congressman as leader of the Republican majority in the lower chamber of Congress,came with tally as 216-210.
After he struck a deal with Senate Democrats to fund government agencies,his own party hardliners voted against him.A week of recess was announced after that ,by the interim Speaker. To avoid another potential government shutdown, the Congress has only 40 days.
After Mr.McCarthy’s U-turn in the days after the storming of the Capitol, when he first condemned Donald Trump’s role and then backed him, Democrats too had felt betrayed by him.
The motion to vacate had only previously been used twice in the past century to remove a Speaker in 2015 and 2010 , though it was never successful.
Who is Steve Scalis?
After campaigning as a voice of the South and Red State Republicans,Steve Scalis entered the Congress in 2008.
In the public office of Louisiana House of Representatives, he was elected first, he served from 1996 to 2007. He won a special election to replace Bobby Jindal in Congress,shortly after being elected to serve in the Louisiana Senate in 2008.
Scalise has over the time won reelection in the district ever since, ascending to the ranks of Republican House leadership over the years to become the party’s majority leader.
He was elected to lead the Republican Study Committee, the largest Republican party in the House,in 2012.He became House minority whip from 2019 till 2022 when Democrats took control of the chamber,before that in 2014, Scalise was appointed to be House majority whip, this position he held through 2018 .He was elected House majority leader in this Congress.
In 2014,he faced intense scrutiny after it was revealed that he spoke at a 2002 convention of the European American Unity and Rights Organization, an event hosted by white-supremacist leader.Scalise said that he was unaware of the organisation’s past and its ideologies.
In August he announced that he has blood cancer, for which he is receiving treatment.
Unafraid to call Democrats socialists , Scalise also supported objections to the electoral college results to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential victory. He’s however also developed a reputation as someone who builds relationships on both sides of the aisle, and those relationships helped build consensus to move legislation through the House.
The Republican-led House recessed Wednesday without voting on House Majority Leader Steve Scalise as speaker,while it’s also unclear as to how long this recess would last.
