Jim McGovern calls GOP rules package a ‘ransom note to America from the extreme Right’
Samantha-Jo Roth
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Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), the Rules Committee ranking member, called the procedures of the new Congress passed by the House “essentially a ransom note to America from the extreme Right” on early Monday evening as lawmakers debated the package before a final vote.
In order to flip 20 GOP holdouts last week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) agreed to a number of demands that weaken his power while increasing the influence of rank-and-file members. Besides ideological concessions, such as agreeing to pair any debt ceiling increase to spending cuts, he agreed to allow a single member to call for a vote to oust a sitting speaker.
MCCARTHY FACES FIRST TEST AS SPEAKER AS HOUSE PREPARES TO VOTE ON RULES PACKAGE
Democrats are sounding the alarm over the new rules package, claiming that the Republican leadership folded to the “extremist MAGA faction.” All Democrats voted against the package.
“I’m concerned over the backroom deals that Speaker McCarthy made with the Freedom Caucus in exchange for their votes,” McGovern said in a speech on the House floor. “These rules are not a serious attempt at governing. … The same members of Congress that held this body hostage last week are the ones who ran interference for the Jan. 6 insurrectionists who tried to overturn a free and fair election.”
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) said he’s concerned the House could be paralyzed and unable to do its work as a result of adopting the new rules.
“The so-called rules package proposed by House Republicans would perpetuate the same disorder, division, and dysfunction that nearly devoured the Republican nominee for speaker,” Torres said, speaking on the House floor. “A single member threshold for filing a motion to vacate empowers extremism and empowers rabble-rousing. It would make the House so dysfunctional as to be ungovernable.”
Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said the GOP’s rules package sets the House “on a path toward division and default,” referring to the looming fight over the debt ceiling. Republicans in both the House and the Senate are expected to use the nation’s debt ceiling as leverage to push for policy changes, setting off a standoff that could shake global markets.
The House passed the rules package along party lines, with all Democrats voting against the measure.
House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) defended the package from the House floor on Monday, saying it addresses what he described as Washington dysfunction under the Democrats.
“At the heart of all this discussion last week, very clear from our side, is that Washington is broken,” he said. “And not only is Washington broken, but the way that this House has been running for the past few years has not been designed to address the problems of the people across this country.”
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Over the weekend, Republicans defended the infighting on display as McCarthy slowly conceded to the demands of the conservative wing of the party to become House speaker.
“Sometimes, democracy is messy, but I would argue that’s exactly how the founders intended it,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) said on Fox News Sunday.