What Far-Right Republicans Want: Remaking Congress and Government

The rebellion against Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California and his bid for the presidency is not just personal animosity, but a group of far-right conservatives who want to defund, disrupt, and dismantle the federal government. , is rooted in a deep ideological impulse to overhaul methods. Congress is working to make it easier.

Opponents of Mr McCarthy have called for a balanced federal budget that would not allow any deficit spending and special rules that would make it easier for lawmakers to eliminate federal offices and fire public servants. .

They also want to make it harder to secure the budget to direct federal money to individual projects. and the dissidents border with Mexico, dismantle the Internal Revenue Service, and replace the federal income tax with a sales tax;

To further their policy goals, they have also long overhauled the way the House operates to allow individual lawmakers to have greater influence over what legislation is considered. Conservatives have long complained about the top-down power structure that has flourished in the House of Representatives since Republican Newt Gingrich took office in 1995.

There is some justification for the claim that ordinary legislators are cut off from most high-level deals. Busy with work and short deadlines, the leaders of the House and Senate have crafted a gigantic legislative agreement between themselves and then forced approval with little time for review.

The most recent example was last month’s passage of a roughly $1.7 trillion government funding package that was shoved into most lawmakers on their last day of work before Christmas, with little chance to see the details.

“America knows Washington is broken,” Rep. Paul Gosser of Arizona, one of the ringleaders of the Speaker’s rebellion, said Tuesday by Arizona Republican Andy Biggs. promoted the election of “One wise man told me that good processes build good policies and build good politics. We have to get back to them.”

While Mr. McCarthy had already pledged a series of changes designed to give legislators a bigger voice in the process, far-right Republicans embraced their policy agenda and became powerful in congressional committees. We want to promise to give you the best spot. California Republicans rejected this. They also demanded that he stop funding major challengers in public Republican elections, essentially doing what he has often tried to do, the more mainstream candidates and right-wing conservatives. I promised not to try to knock out a good candidate.

Rep. Ken Buck, a Colorado Republican and Liberal caucus member who backs McCarthy, acknowledged the frustration of a wide range of members and said “transparency” was a key element of the Republican feud. rice field.

“One of the things Liberal leaders want is more time to read the bill before it’s voted on,” Buck said, adding that such assurances were not expected by McCarthy’s supporters and opponents. said it could benefit both.

Newly-majority Republican lawmakers say they will put on hold a crucial vote to raise the cap on the nation’s borrowing capacity unless Senate and White House Democrats agree to significant spending cuts. Therefore, additional changes are requested.

This change will make it much harder for a divided government to pass basic legislation, let alone keep federal spending at current levels and avoid a wider economic catastrophe. .

Incoming majorities in both parties in the past have promised more legislative participation, more opportunities to submit amendments, and more time to study the law. When McCarthy proposed a set of rules to govern how the House should operate, he included measures that required 72 hours’ notice before the bill was voted on and guardrails to keep spending in check.

But leaders of both parties have found in the past that making the process public slows down legislative work significantly, if not completely, and the new rules are more efficient and less politically viable. will be discarded.