66
votes
What did the Democrats have to gain by ousting Kevin McCarthy?
Why would a Democrat vote for McCarthy?
McCarthy is not from their party; Democrats are not normally inclined to vote for Republican speakers
McCarthy single-handedly opened an impeachment ...
- 73.6k
48
votes
Why don't Democrats let Representative Greene rename post offices, and how do they prevent her from doing so?
This is just a rhetorical device, not a reference to any actual attempt to rename post offices. They're saying that she's such a whack-job that they won't even support her on inconsequential matters, ...
- 11.3k
39
votes
Accepted
Why do they keep saying 217 is what's needed to elect the Speaker of the House?
Two seats are vacant at this time.
Current House Makeup Vacancies:
RI-01: Rep. David Cicilline (D) resigned 6/1/23. Special primary 9/5/23, special general 11/7/23.
UT-02: Rep. Chris Stewart (R) to ...
- 36k
31
votes
What did the Democrats have to gain by ousting Kevin McCarthy?
The current dispute over the speaker position makes the Republicans look like they are incompetent, out of control, at war with each other, and unable to perform even the basic functions of government....
- 15.9k
31
votes
Did the Democrats have an endgame plan when they allowed the Republicans to remove the Speaker of the House?
The Democrats did not have a plan, exactly, they merely wanted a Speaker who would be willing to work with them (to some extent) so that the House could pass somewhat bipartisan bills. McCarthy has ...
- 73.6k
21
votes
Why don't Democrats let Representative Greene rename post offices, and how do they prevent her from doing so?
Naming a post office requires unanimity from the state's congressional members to move it to the floor for a vote. So all it takes is a single member from Georgia to prevent that.
In a way this ...
- 18.1k
20
votes
Origin & purpose of the "magic minute" floor speech in the US House and why would Minority Leader Hakim Jeffries use one to delay the vote by an hour?
I'm not sure of the exact origin of the practice (or of the term), but essentially the "magic minute" allows party leaders in the House to speak as much as they want.
The magic minute, or ...
19
votes
Did the Democrats have an endgame plan when they allowed the Republicans to remove the Speaker of the House?
It wasn't as much as them allowing him to be removed but refusing to back him after he backed out of deals with them in order to try and save his position. If he was willing to back out of deals to ...
- 18.1k
18
votes
Accepted
Is every house vote taken one vote at a time?
No. There are several ways that Congress can conduct votes. From least to most time consuming:
Unanimous consent. The Speaker says “If there is no objection, the motion will be adopted”, and waits ...
- 4,889
18
votes
Accepted
What would happen if Matt Gaetz is expelled from the House?
Who would appoint his replacement? Would it be the Florida governor, or would there need to be a new election?
Article I, Section 2, Clause 4 of the US Constitution states:
When vacancies happen in ...
CDJB♦
- 108k
17
votes
What does a hideaway office or an unmarked haven in the Capitol look like?
It's just an office, but whose office it is isn't marked by a sign on its door or in any public maps or registries.
This is in contrast to e.g. the publicly listed offices that Senators and ...
- 1,477
15
votes
What did the Democrats have to gain by ousting Kevin McCarthy?
Hard to say what their real reasons might be, but regarding McCarthy even though he agreed with them on the continuing resolution, they apparently could not forgive him other stuff:
Democrats blasted ...
15
votes
Can the US House function without a speaker?
Q: Can the US House function without a speaker?
For a while. There is a House rule for a vacancy in the Office of Speaker allowing the business of the House to continue until the election of a new ...
- 36k
15
votes
Why don't Democrats let Representative Greene rename post offices, and how do they prevent her from doing so?
Ironically enough, naming a post office is one of the four bills MTG has actually gotten through Congress! Now, she was not the sole sponsor (or even the introductory sponsor), and since the purpose ...
- 4,149
14
votes
Why does expelled former American congressperson, George Santos, still have access to the United States of America's Congressional House floor?
While George Santos is currently allowed on the House floor, if found guilty of charges related to the election that privilege will be revoked.
Rules of the House, 118th Congress
RULE IV
The Hall of ...
- 36k
13
votes
Can a "minority" party elect, or at least choose the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives?
All that matters for electing the speaker is that a majority of votes is won by a candidate. It doesn't matter what party the voters belong to in determining the winner.
In order to get elected to the ...
- 18.1k
11
votes
Why don't members of the minority party in the U.S. House of Representative ever force a vote to vacate the Speakership?
Vacate motions are not a common strategy for a number of reasons:
A successful motion requires a simple majority of those present, but since the speaker is (in practice) chosen by the majority party, ...
- 73.6k
11
votes
Is every house vote taken one vote at a time?
Normally, recorded votes use electronic vote counting. The choice is by the Speaker using rule XX.
(a) Unless the Speaker directs otherwise, the Clerk shall conduct a record vote or quorum call by ...
- 36k
11
votes
Accepted
Why could the House get 250-180 votes on some bill but not "muster the simple majority needed to set the terms for the bill’s debate"?
"[T]he simple majority needed to set the terms for the bill’s debate" is misleading. It should have referred to a majority in the House Rules Committee rather than allowing an inference to a ...
- 36k
10
votes
Accepted
Could the Democrats (almost) unilaterally remove the Republican House Speaker?
Yes, your understanding is correct, although the reality of Washington politics means that it's unlikely to happen.
... under the current rules, any single house member can force a vote on removing ...
- 25.3k
10
votes
Is the House of Representatives not allowed to initiate any bills dealing with foreign policy (outside of commerce and budget matters)?
The Homeland Security Act of 2002 was also formally initiated by the House.
I suspect the author of that unsourced answer was interpreting the advice and consent clause regarding the Senate (but not ...
- 13.2k
10
votes
What motives would Democrats have to vote either in favor or against vacating Mike Johnson's speakership if a motion to vacate were voted on?
Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-NY, is on record supporting Mike Johnson for Speaker, if there is a motion to vacate. From CNN, on 3/22:
RAJU: Congressman Suozzi, Democrat of New York, will you vote to keep Mike ...
- 1,887
9
votes
What did the Democrats have to gain by ousting Kevin McCarthy?
Well, the top voted answer seems well enough on point:
TLDR: Chaos in the Republican party is good for Democrats.
The Democrats have successfully embarrassed the Republicans and gotten rid of a ...
- 88.8k
9
votes
What would happen if Matt Gaetz is expelled from the House?
Could Gaetz be re-instated if he was appointed/re-elected?
The judicial precedent actually favors him greatly in such a case. In Powell v. McCormack (1969) the Supreme Court held that refusal to sit ...
9
votes
Did the Democrats have an endgame plan when they allowed the Republicans to remove the Speaker of the House?
The calculation was quite simple. Random would not be worse than McCarthy. McCarthy refused to work with Democrats in any form. Sure, it was his prerogative, but it also means Democrats had not the ...
- 256
8
votes
Accepted
How is this continuing resolution different from what got McCarthy vacated?
What has changed is the will of the right wing of the Republican party to force what amounts to a vote of confidence in their new speaker.
In September, the calculation was that by ousting McCarthy, ...
- 124k
8
votes
What did the Democrats have to gain by ousting Kevin McCarthy?
This is a really weird framing. The Democrats voted for their leader to become Speaker of the House, just like they always have before. There's noting at all unusual about that, and we'd only require ...
- 14.6k
8
votes
Accepted
How can speaker Mike Johnson prevent a vote in the House on the Ukraine aid bill?
If a majority of the house wants the bill to come to a vote, how exactly can Johnson prevent the bill from doing so?
He can't. The House has a procedure called a discharge petition, which enables a ...
- 9,443
7
votes
Accepted
Who were the Republicans who signed off on the Santos report? Are any of them part of the Freedom Caucus?
The vote for the Santos Report was unanimous, so all Republicans on the committee voted for it. The Republicans on the committee are:
Michael Guest, Mississippi, Chair
David Joyce, Ohio
John ...
- 1,788
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