The former president continues to be the troublemaker of American politics. This Tuesday, January 3, the elected members of the American House of Representatives were unable to elect a president during a session in Congress, plunged into uncertainty by strong tensions in the Republican ranks between the moderate camp and the supporters of Donald Trump. A (temporary) absence of “speaker” which had not arrived in 100 years in the United States. In 1856, the elected representatives of the Congress had agreed only after two months and 133 turns! Voting is currently suspended until Wednesday.
While his camp is torn apart, Donald Trump criticized him at the end of the day for “superfluous agitation” within a party for which he wishes to obtain the nomination in order to regain the White House in 2024.
Big favorite to replace Nancy Pelosi, the fifties Kevin McCarthy had not managed after three successive votes to calm the revolt emanating from a group of Trumpists who consider him too moderate. The elected officials agreed to suspend their votes while negotiating behind the scenes.
The election of the “speaker”, the third most important figure in American politics after the president and the vice-president, requires a majority of 218 votes. A threshold that Kevin McCarthy could not reach, twenty elected Trumpists having decided to play the spoilsport.
- Who has the majority in the lower house?
The Republicans, who seized the majority in the lower house in the November elections, had promised to use their new counter-power by opening a series of investigations into US President Joe Biden. But the launch of such hostilities is paralyzed by these internal quarrels: the elected members of the House of Representatives cannot officially take the oath, and therefore open any investigation, as long as a president has not been appointed.
- How did the voting go?
Kevin McCarthy’s candidacy was however widely supported within his party: the announcement of his nomination Tuesday in the hemicycle was received by a great standing ovation in the Republican ranks. At the start of the third round, some annoyance was beginning to be felt, with the more moderate Republicans urging their colleagues to line up around Kevin McCarthy. “We came here to get things done,” Republican group leader Steve Scalise pleaded, to which Democrats laughed.
Kevin McCarthy seems to want to give pledges to this conservative fringe to prevent history from stuttering: in 2015, he had already narrowly failed to become Speaker of the House of Representatives in the face of a sling from the right wing of the party. But he can’t afford to go overboard and alienate moderate Republicans. Although its room for maneuver is reduced, it currently has no credible competitor. Only the name of Ohio elected official Jim Jordan circulates as a possible alternative, without his chances seeming serious.
- What does the Democratic camp say?
Throughout this procedure, Joe Biden’s party has since united around the candidacy of Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, regularly applauding the New York elected official to the sounds of “Hakeem, Hakeem, Hakeem!”. But ultimately the chosen one does not have enough votes to access the perch either.
With Republicans in the majority in the House, Joe Biden and the Democrats won’t be able to push through big new projects. But with a Senate in the hands of the Democrats, neither will their rivals. Will they entrench themselves in a systematic opposition? This would require them to come together, while some of their elected officials – as during the vote on the budget before Christmas – voted with the Democrats. The election of the “speaker” therefore also serves to measure their ability to cause harm to the president.
Facing a hostile House could prove to be a political boon for Joe Biden, if he confirms his intention to run again in 2024 – a decision he must announce at the start of the year. The president was also careful not to comment on the Republican dissensions, his spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre assuring that the Democratic leader would not “meddle in this process”. In the event of legislative paralysis, he will undoubtedly blame the blocking on weakened Republicans, hoping to turn the situation to his advantage.
