Scalise drops from Speaker race

The Republicans in the United States are in an unenviable political turmoil, especially in the House of Representatives where they have got a small majority in the November, 2022 mid-term election, even as Democrats hold a narrow majority in the Senate and President Joe Biden holds the White House and is running for the 2024 race. The presidential race among the Republicans is chaotic too with Donald Trump seeking re-election but refusing to take part in the debates of the party’s presidential hopefuls.

Though Trump is leading in the opinion polls, it is not yet clear whether the Republicans will nominate him for the presidential race next year. But is the Republican crisis in the House of Representatives, also known as the Congress, which has become the despair of the Republicans. The party threw out House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for helping the Biden administration by pushing through a spending bill, and averting the closure of government.

Members of the Republicans punished him for the political heresy as it were. After having removed the Speaker, which is a first in the history of the US Congress, the party is struggling to find a successor to McCarthy.

There was a close race between Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise, and in the closed-door secret ballot, the party chose Scalise. But Scalise had to face the open vote in the House and there suddenly appeared the hard-right Republicans who are refusing to endorse Scalise. And he had dropped out. The situation was vividly described by Republican Congressman Mark Alford. He said, “We’re a ship that doesn’t have a rudder right now, and I’m thoroughly disappointed in the process.”

The House Republicans do not have much time and they have to choose the Speaker because expenditure bills have to be passed by November 17 to once again avert the shutdown of the government. Of course, the Republicans would not hesitate to force a closure on President Biden because they oppose vehemently Biden’s plan to spend and provide relief to students’ debt.

The far-right Republicans have hardened their stance on the issue of spending. It is speculated that Jim Jordan, who vied for the post earlier, would step back into the race. While Scalise is the House Majority Leader for the Republicans, Jordan is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and he is considered a firebrand, and he is ardent supporter of Trump. Scalise too is a supporter of Trump but he is seen as more of a party insider.

The Republicans are going through a phase of intense confusion. The party is full of passion for close-to-heart issues of conservatives like the gun laws, immigration, but they are also charmed by the anarchic populism of Trump. Some of the dyed-in-the-wool conservatives in the Republican party are wary of Trump’s reckless approach to politics. But many in the party feel that people support Trump, and if they are to win elections, they must jump on to the Trump bandwagon. And it rules out compromise, which is at the heart of the US governmental system, especially between the two parties in the House, and between the Senate and the House, and also between the Congress, that is the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the White House.

It looks like that Trump, who is not a Republican insider but who has jumped on to the Republican bandwagon – earlier he had supported the Democrats –has overshadowed the party with his political pyrotechnics.

The Republicans are caught in the Trump maelstrom. Many of them feel the need to support his populism, and this does not leave any room for the old-style Republicans who stuck to their conservative credo but they were adept at making the necessary compromises in government.