It is two years today since fanatical Donald Trump supporters stormed the US Congress.
At the same time, an internal chaos is going on among the members of Congress.
After many unsuccessful attempts, the representatives have not been able to elect a new leader, also known as speaker. On Friday evening, they will try for the twelfth time.
At the center of the chaos is Kevin McCarthy. Two years after the Republican tried to prevent the storming, there are ghosts for his own speaker ambition.
STORMING: The storming of the US Congress on January 6, 2021 sent shock waves around the world. Photo: ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP
Not getting enough votes
The Speaker is the third most powerful elected person in the United States. If both the president and the vice-president die, it is the speaker who must lead the country.
The speaker is chosen by voting. Support from at least 218 representatives is what is needed.
Usually this is painless. Because the Republicans have a majority, it should be a narrow issue to rally around a candidate.
But the big favorite, Kevin McCarthy from California, simply does not get enough votes.
LOSER: Kevin McCarthy tried 11 times to become the new leader. But a small group in his party refuses to support him. Photo: Alex Brandon
In ballot after ballot, a group of 20 Republican Party rebels have refused to endorse him as leader.
– Will not start
The chaos is partly due to a split in the Republican Party in recent years, according to Hallvard Notaker, professor at the institute for defense studies.
In recent years, several conservative Republicans have been elected to Congress. And they rarely agree to anything they don’t agree with.
– Especially on the far right, it has become more and more frowned upon to enter into compromises. They believe it is betraying their ideals, says Notaker.
CONCERNED: Hallvard Notaker at the Institute for Defense Studies believes the chaos in Congress is serious. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum
He explains that this is precisely what those who refuse to vote for McCarthy are doing now.
– They believe it is valuable not to give in. That is why they reject intermediate solutions that will get things done, says Notaker.
This is a problem, he believes. Because every day Congress is without a leader, they cannot start their work.
– The USA does not have a functioning national assembly now. The world is full of crises that need solutions. And the Americans have more than enough to deal with already. But they don’t get started, says Notaker.
These are the rebels
The Congress has so far made 11 attempts to elect its leader.
There are a total of 20 representatives who stubbornly refuse to give up on Kevin McCarthy as leader of the House of Representatives.
– McCarthy served as a supporter of Trump throughout most of his presidency, but clashed with the president during and shortly after the January 6 attack. He is therefore now perceived as too little loyal and opportunistic by a group of Republicans who are aggressively confrontational, both against the Democrats and internally against the former establishment in their own party, says TV 2’s USA expert Hans Olav Lahlum.
He explains that because so much time has passed, it is less likely that they will change their minds now.
EXPERT: Hans Olav Lahlum is a writer, historian and TV 2’s USA expert. Photo: Simen Askjer / TV 2
In October 2021, an American freelance journalist claimed that several Trump supporters should have received instructions from certain members of Congress before the storming of Congress.
Several names were mentioned, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Paul Gosar.
Now Boebert and Gosar can be found among the 20 Republicans blocking the victory for Kevin McCarthy.
And it doesn’t look like Donald Trump can change their minds either.
REFUSES: Republican Lauren Boebert is among the few members of Congress who refuse to support McCarthy. Photo: AP/Andrew Harnik.
On Thursday, Trump actually urged Republicans to choose McCarthy as leader. Nevertheless, Boebert, Gosar and others stand firm.
They believe that McCarthy is not conservative enough and fear that he will cooperate with the Democrats.
– We are fighting to save the United States, and we are not going to withdraw, Boebert tweeted on Friday night. It happened after McCarthy had lost a leadership vote for the 11th time in a row.
Lahlum thinks it is interesting that Trump’s words are not heeded.
– That didn’t help either. It is a rather motley group that is not easy for anyone to keep track of, says Lahlum.
He believes that the chaos surrounding the Speaker election will affect the Republican Party, and American politics, to a large extent in the future.
– This is the strongest illustration to date of how much disagreement there is on the Republican side, says Lahlum.
Hilmar Mjelde, associate professor of political science at Høgskulen på Vestlandet, believes we can divide the uprisings into two groups.
– The first is “anti-state”, with Chip Roy at the head. These demand a much more conservative political line in the party. The others are “anti-authority”. They want to replace the party leadership, preferably McCarthy. They want to dismantle the current party leadership model, he says.
SUPPORTERS: Former President Donald Trump has called on Republicans to rally around Kevin McCarthy. But they don’t. Photo: Ross D. Franklin/AP.
Thinks he has made progress
On Thursday, McCarthy made progress, according to himself. He still believes in victory.
McCarthy still says he doesn’t know when that will happen.
– I hold the record for the longest speech in the House of Representatives, so I obviously like to make history, McCarthy told the press after the votes on Thursday.
EXPERT: Hilmar Mjelde at Høgskulen på Vestlandet follows American politics closely. Photo: Private.
– If this takes a little longer, that’s fine, he continued.
Mjelde at Høgskulen på Vestlandet believes that it is the “anti-state faction” among the rebellions that may ultimately provide final support.
– They can probably accept McCarthy, if they get more power over the party’s day-to-day work in Congress going forward, he says.
The next vote will take place at 18:00 Norwegian time at the earliest today.
