Lawmakers in the House have yet to be sworn in. They can’t help constituents or get classified briefings, much less hold hearings or pass laws. And at some point, they may have trouble getting paid.
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Without a speaker, the United States House of Representatives essentially becomes a useless entity.
WASHINGTON — The personal and political drama that is playing out on the House floor as Representative Kevin McCarthy tries and fails repeatedly to become speaker has broader implications for the country, raising questions about what happens when one chamber of the legislative branch ceases to function.
Without a speaker, the United States House of Representatives essentially becomes a useless entity. Because none of its members can be sworn in until a speaker is chosen, there are no lawmakers to respond to an emergency or a crisis, only representatives-elect. With no rules adopted, the legislative process cannot move forward; no bills can be passed or resolutions adopted.
Lacking a speaker, the House cannot carry out its responsibility for oversight of the federal government or any other entity. The House cannot haul witnesses before committees, and those elected to serve cannot set up operations to help out their constituents.
Returning lawmakers have lost their security clearances to get private briefings from the military and the intelligence agencies because, having not been sworn in, they are not officially members of Congress.
“If there’s a real emergency, we couldn’t respond,” said Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York. “Either the Republicans don’t understand that, or they do understand that and they don’t care. I don’t know which is worse, but it is a profound danger to the country as long as it lasts.”
Law and precedents state that the House must elect a speaker before lawmakers take any other action.
Representative Dan Kildee, Democrat of Michigan, said he hoped that in the case of an emergency Republicans would be able to quickly unite around a speaker so that the Congress could respond. But he worried that might not be possible, given the party’s deep dysfunction.
A New Congress Begins
The 118th Congress opened on Jan. 3, with Republicans taking control of the House and Democrats holding the Senate.
- A Divided House: On their first day in the majority, House Republicans failed to elect a speaker. The infighting has exposed a big rift in the party.
- George Santos: The new congressman from New York, a Republican who has made false claims about his background, education and finances, brings his saga to Capitol Hill.
- Pelosi Era Ends: Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to become House speaker, leaves a legacy that will be difficult for the new leadership of both parties to reach.
- Elise Stefanik: The New York congresswoman’s climb to MAGA stardom is a case study in the collapse of the old Republican establishment, but her rise may also be a cautionary tale.
“If there were some emergency circumstance that required congressional action, there’s no light at the end of this tunnel, and that’s a dangerous position for us to be in,” Mr. Kildee said. “Would we be willing to figure something out? I don’t know if it’s doable with this crowd.”
The concern was not limited to Democrats. Seventeen House Republicans who are military veterans held an evening news conference to condemn the far-right members blocking the House from electing a speaker and getting to work.
Representative Mike Gallagher, Republican of Wisconsin and a former Marine, was supposed to become chairman of a select committee scrutinizing Chinese aggression, but on Wednesday he was not allowed in a scheduled meeting with top military brass in a secure facility — known as a SCIF — because he has yet to be sworn in as a member of the new Congress.
“I’m informed by House security that technically I don’t have a clearance,” he said. “I can’t meet in the SCIF to conduct essential business.”
Representative Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican who defected from supporting Mr. McCarthy to challenge him for speaker, said he believed fears of national security concerns are overblown. President Biden could handle any national security crisis that occurred while the House is inoperable, Mr. Donalds told reporters.
“We all know that if a national security crisis arises, the president of the United States is right down the street,” he said.
Others were concerned about more mundane matters, such as the lack of constituent services if there are no functioning congressional offices.
“This brings up a ton of legitimate questions,” Billy Long, a Missouri Republican who left office with the close of the 117th Congress on Tuesday morning, wrote on Twitter. “Who can legally help any and all of our citizens with issues we normally handle everyday? Passports, IRS, #Veteran’s issues, SBA, Post Office, Immigration issues, Corps of Engineers, etc. who’s getting paid? Outgoing or incoming?”
Mr. Long changed his Twitter biography to make light of the predicament.
“Am I Still a Congressman until @EricBurlison is sworn in or not? Who’s minding the store? Welcome to Bizaroland.”
(Mr. Long is not a congressman, since the last Congress adjourned for a final time on Tuesday, even though Representative-elect Eric Burlison, the Republican who won the race to succeed him, has yet to be sworn in.)
Many Democrats at first were enjoying the dysfunction of a Republican-led House that could not find a way to elect a speaker, with some posting on social media photos of popcorn while they mocked the discord. But others were starting to grow worried about practical matters, like, say, getting paid.
Representative Colin Allred, Democrat of Texas, said on MSNBC on Wednesday that he was not sure whether paychecks for members of Congress and their aides could still go out, and said lawmakers might ask for back pay.
“The issue really is, at some point in time, whether the staff will be paid,” Mr. Kildee said.
Representative Chip Roy, Republican of Texas and one of Mr. McCarthy’s fiercest detractors, rejected concerns about a nonfunctioning House, and said Tuesday evening he did not think most Americans cared.
“Do you think anybody in America right now is like, ‘Oh my God, there’s not a speaker?’” he told reporters, adding that he believed there were untested legislative maneuvers the chamber could take to respond to an emergency should one arise. “We’re a body. We can go pass motions. We can do whatever. If there’s an emergency, we can do whatever we need to.”
But legal experts doubted whether any action taken by a House without a speaker — who is second in line to the presidency — could withstand judicial review.
For more than 200 years, the House has used provisions from the Constitution and from a 1789 law to form the basis for its order. According to the Revised Statutes of the United States, at the first session of Congress, the body must first swear in a speaker who then administers the oath of office to all members present, “previous to entering on any other business.”
This statute, along with a precedent from March 4, 1869, provides that the election of a speaker is the first and highest priority of the House. This precedent was reaffirmed on Jan. 7, 1997, when the clerk ruled that nominations for speaker were of a higher constitutional privilege than a resolution to postpone the election of speaker until an ethics review had run its course.
Given that history, some lawmakers are now questioning whether the chamber even exists.
“The House of Representatives isn’t essentially nonfunctional. It’s totally nonfunctional,” Mr. Nadler said.
Representative Gerald E. Connolly, Democrat of Virginia, noted that it had been more than a century since the House had found itself in a similar situation. He suggested changes to House rules to install an interim speaker at the end of a term, rather than face similar dysfunction in the future.
But Mr. Connolly added that some of the Republicans causing the dysfunction are doing exactly what they came to Congress to do: blow things up.
“The extremism and dysfunctionality of the Republican caucus is coming home to roost,” he said.
Emily Cochrane contributed reporting.
Source: nytimes.com
