Dakota Beacon

News flash! Kevin McCarthy finally won the vote for Speaker of the House of Representatives but it didn’t come easy. He finally won on the 15^th ballot. Twenty GOP hold-outs would not support him until he agreed to certain rules changes under which the House of Representatives would operate.

Missing a Speaker, the House could not conduct business -- period. It could not even swear in newly-elected members. As long as the House of Representatives does not have a Speaker, normal business cannot be conducted. In an odd way, resistance to choosing the Speaker became a metaphor for achieving limited government.

Finding specific reasons behind the resistance during the balloting process did not come easy. Legacy media talking heads simply covered the selection process as just another form of entertainment as they do with most serious news stories. “Pejorative” might be the best word to describe most news coverage. Why? Because the cause of the so-called “rebels” was never supported by the media narrative. As the New York Times wrongly writes, “Their agenda is mostly to defund, disrupt, and dismantle government, not to participate in it.” The hold-outs came from deep-red districts. Of the 20 lawmakers who consistently voted against McCarthy, 12 had denied the results of the 2020 election, 19 were linked to the Freedom Caucus, and 17 were endorsed by Trump in the midterms. As one Republican strategist derisively put it, “They lack a legislative maturity to understand it can’t be personal. It has to be just business.”

The revolt centered on rules changes, i.e., the way the Speaker of the House must conduct business such as writing spending legislation, adhering to a budget, and making appointments to committees. Should he flout those rules, it should be easy for the House to challenge, remove, and replace him or her as it had been from America’s earliest years.

The current revolt gained momentum fueled by years of exclusive Ruling Class rejection and dismissal of conservative points of view. Over the years the congressional Ruling Class evolved as an elite clique writing its own rules to retain its own power. This was “the swamp” on full display. The result? The “Trump effect” came into play – resist and stand your ground regardless of the consequences.

Forever, Republican elders talked a good game about fiscal responsibility, balanced budgets, and standing up for “the people.” Somehow, their words never translated into reality. Today, trillion-dollar legislative bills with special-interest spending amendments are the norm. Result? An unsustainable $33 trillion debt sarcastically meant for the good of “the people.” They granted security to the Ukraine but left America’s southern border wide open. As long as an unmonitored election process keeps returning the same people to Congress and the Congress in turn bilks the voters to fill government coffers, then there appears little opportunity to impose checks expecting balances in return.

Aided by Congress, the federal government over the years inched its way forward aggregating greater control over the lives and culture of Americans. Tiny changes add up to a bigger picture, one which we no longer recognize as the America we grew up in. Examples: limiting tank size for flush toilets; mandating removal of Freon from air conditioners and refrigerators; banning incandescent light bulbs; forcing reduction of American’s use of coal, oil, and gas; coercing Americans to regard transgender people as equivalent to biological males or females. The camel’s nose is so far under the tent, the whole camel now occupies our living space!

The biggest change brought by the hold-outs would reinstate a centuries-old rule that previously allowed one lawmaker to call up a vote to eject the speaker. Another change prohibits voting by proxy adopted during COVID-19. Conservatives won seats on the Rules and the House Ways and Means Committees. Changes on spending bills and stipulations on borrowing limits were secured as were proposals to balance the budget within 10 years. Spending would be capped at 2022 levels and includes long-term reforms to both the budget process and mandatory spending programs.

That the 20 conservatives held firm throughout most of the negotiations speaks volumes about their courage, tenacity, and commitment to conservative principles. It also says a lot about congressional swamp dwellers who DID NOT stand up for change – especially those who criticized the hold-outs.

Kevin McCarthy finally won the gavel in the wee hours of Saturday morning and planned to immediately swear in the 434 lawmakers present in the chamber. Now comes the fight on the entire rules package proposal.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).