The difficulty in electing a speaker of the House was really a battle of traditional Republicans versus a small group of Republicans who determined that free and blind spending, plus outrageous government growth, had to stop.
Every Congress sets operating rules. But this time, the rules will be aimed at restraining spending, stopping omnibus bills that no one has read and possibly requiring more than a simple majority to increase spending.
Some will view the stipulations that new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-20) agreed to in order to secure enough votes—characterized as “concessions” by some—as weakening his power. They especially point to the agreement that any one House member can call a no-confidence vote to remove the speaker. But such a call would be voted on. It is an enforcement mechanism.
But the progressive leftist Democrats were already worried about such a determined display of opposition to spending. What would such holdouts mean for government spending and the debt ceiling?
Our information is that the Congressional Budget Office has still not scored the omnibus bill, weeks after its passage.
From the right, there were a lot of Americans rooting for the 20 conservatives willing to stand up for changes, accountability and common sense on government spending and regulation.
Some of the countryside fury at Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and the Senate likely spilled over to the House speaker fight. Senate Republicans only needed 41 votes to block the omnibus bill. Instead, 18 Republican senators voted for a big spending atrocity to further spur inflation, add debt and reorder spending priorities. Why send $410 million for Middle Eastern countries to guard their borders, while spending nothing to protect our border?
There was no published version at press time of the speaker agreement. But it likely includes prohibitions on omnibus bills, requires 72 hours to consider bills, more single issue bills, larger majorities to increase spending and in general, a return to regular order.
Conservatives have pointed out that the power of the speaker, reinforced by the magic of controlling campaign funding, has grown too much. As radio financial and political analyst Larry Kudlow pointed out, the directions and prohibitions are really a return to the committee structure directed by the Constitution.
Cattlemen are accustomed to policy discussions, initiatives and votes coming out of member committees. Congress is supposed to work that way. Setting some ground rules for the House speaker is a great way to return to proper governing. There are supposed to be hearings, debates, amendments and committee decisions on 12 different appropriations bills, not a hideous and clandestine monstrosity at the 11th hour, spending trillions.
Regular order also applies to other legislation. Federal agencies have just been shoveling funds with little congressional oversight. Regulations have been imposed by federal fiefdoms that stifle growth, hamstring businesses and waste taxpayer funds in service to dubious philosophies like controlling the climate, redressing wrongs from hundreds of years ago or trying not to offend someone’s feelings.
Wayne Crews of Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) and his “Ten Thousand Commandments” report annually details how government regulations stifle the economy and provide a hidden tax on economic growth. Crews noted the government itself tallies 332 “economically significant” rules—$100 million in annual economic impact—currently in the pipeline.
The executive orders President Joe Biden characterizes as “modernization” constitute a “whole of government” approach that directs agencies to incorporate rules on climate change, social justice, long COVID and “equity” into government social engineering on a huge scale, Crews said.
Kudlow believes the right should use the West Virginia Supreme Court decision to force federal agencies back within their delineated purposes. The left has utilized the high court to win legal battles for laws Congress refused to pass.
CEI’s founder Fred Smith puts it this way: The Constitution isn’t perfect, but it’s much better than what we have now.
Rep. French Hill (R-AR-02) explained to Kudlow the operations under former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12). Last year, House and Senate committees had developed a bipartisan infrastructure bill, holding hearings, operating the committee system in “regular order.” Instead, Pelosi allowed a Senate bill to “parachute” in—no amendments allowed—and that was the bill passed, with mostly non-infrastructure projects.
McCarthy, as House speaker, should be of some advantage to California’s cattlemen. We have heard in the past that there were communication lines open. That could be helpful.
Newsworthy: Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, will not run for re-election in 2024. For Stabenow, who is not particularly friendly to production animal agriculture, the next farm bill will be her last. — Steve Dittmer, WLJ columnist
(Steve Dittmer is the author of the Agribusiness Freedom Foundation newsletter. Views in the column do not necessarily represent the views or opinions ofWLJor its editorial staff.)
