Without the Speaker of the House of Representatives, nothing happens politically in the USA. That’s why voting out incumbent Kevin McCarthy is a serious matter. What’s next? And why does another unavoidable name come up? The most important questions.
At the beginning of the year, members of the House of Representatives voted 15 times to elect Kevin McCarthy as their speaker. In order to be able to occupy the third-highest office in the USA, the candidate went a long way towards meeting his opponents within the party. He even accepted that only one member of parliament was allowed to request that he be voted out. Now, after 270 days, the time had come: The right-wing Republican Matt Gaetz made that request – and McCarthy was voted out as the first speaker of the House of Representatives. “I made history, didn’t I?” asked the group at a subsequent press conference.
His rhetorical point is almost an understatement. Because McCarthy’s deselection is not just historical. It is so unprecedented that no one really knows what will happen next. And when and with whom.
The open questions in the USA:
Who is now leader of the House of Representatives?
The office of speaker is the third highest in the country after the two presidents. It is comparable to the President of the Bundestag in Germany, who ensures parliamentary procedures. Immediately after McCarthy was voted out, Patrick McHenry was named interim speaker. The conservative from North Carolina is considered a confidant of his predecessor and the Republicans’ top negotiator.
What’s next for McHenry?
Essentially, interim speakers can only bridge the time until their successor is elected; their scope for action is severely limited. For example, McHenry will not be able to introduce laws and bills into parliament. In fact, the work of the MPs is at a standstill.
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What remains until the full speaker is elected?
Almost everything. The chaos was sparked by compromises over government spending. Since the official US budget expired at the end of September, the ruling Democrats had to agree with the opposition Republicans on transitional financing until mid-November. A follow-up act can only be passed with a new House Speaker. If no successor is found by then, there will be catastrophic consequences for the country.
When will a decision be made about a successor?
A first round of voting, or rounds of voting, are scheduled for Wednesday, October 11th. But it is not yet foreseeable whether a McCarthy successor will be chosen.
Are there already candidates?
- So far only has Kevin McCarthy made it clear that he would not be available for office again. But some names are already being traded, including a well-known one: Donald Trump. The ex-president’s name had already been discussed during the speaker election at the beginning of January. And so this time too, because the Speaker of the House of Representatives does not have to be a member of Parliament himself. His election would also be unprecedented, although, as of now, rather unlikely.
- Has better chances against it Jim Jordan, like Matt Gaetz, a representative of the Trump right wing. already promised his “mentor” support.
- They will probably stand for election too Steve Scalisewho was already discussed as a possible McCarthy successor at the beginning of the year.
- There are also names circulating like Tom Emmer, but who has already signaled his support for Scalise.
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Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
