[It’s a long shot, but not out of the question.]
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COULD DEMOCRATS REALLY ELECT A MODERATE REPUBLICAN SPEAKER?  
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Robert Kuttner
December 23, 2022
The American Prospect
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_ It’s a long shot, but not out of the question. _

Kevin McCarthy - Caricature, by DonkeyHotey (CC BY 2.0)

 

Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy, who hopes to become Speaker,
is in a real pickle. His majority in the House will be just four or
five. The far-right members of his caucus are pushing him to a point
where moderates won’t vote for him. But conversely, if he fails to
meet MAGA demands, he will lose the voters of the hard right. It’s
hard to see how he gets to 218 votes.

Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, one of the moderates, recently said what
others have been thinking: If McCarthy doesn’t have the votes,
“I’m going to work with like-minded people across the aisle to
find someone agreeable” for Speaker.

Could this really happen? As I pointed out in a recent column
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it has happened at the state level, in the New York state Senate. Our
colleague Miles Rapoport reminds me that in Connecticut, conservative
Democrats combined with Republicans to oust a progressive Democratic
House Speaker in favor of a centrist. And just last month, nine
Democrats and eight Republicans formed a bipartisan governing
majority
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the Alaska state Senate, leaving three MAGA Republicans in the
minority.

_MORE FROM ROBERT KUTTNER_
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Here is the choreography. On January 3, the Republican House caucus
will meet and cast ballots for a Speaker-designate. If they agree, the
full House will then vote for Speaker, and the Republican majority
will prevail. But if they deadlock, Republican moderates could try to
seek a deal with Democrats.

Then it gets really complicated. Is this a deal just to elect a
moderate Republican Speaker? Or is it a genuine bipartisan, anti-MAGA
governing caucus?

What would Democrats demand? No far-right Republicans as committee
chairs and no committee fishing expeditions? Some Democrats as
committee chairs?

And how would the far-right Republicans, who make up a majority of the
Republican caucus, react? They would likely be livid, and could well
kick the faithless moderates out of their caucus, which would make an
anti-MAGA House bipartisan governing majority a reality.

The Republican moderates, like most of the brave Republicans who voted
to impeach Trump, would likely lose their seats in the next election;
and like Liz Cheney, they would have to decide that keeping the far
right from power is worth a career-ending sacrifice.

This is the stuff of high intrigue. It is uncharted territory and may
never happen. And these possibilities will certainly get the attention
of the far right as they decide just how hard to push McCarthy.

One possible compromise could be Republican House Whip Steve Scalise,
who was elected whip by the caucus unanimously, in contrast to the 31
votes against McCarthy when the Republicans provisionally picked their
leader after the November election. Even so, the same cross-pressures
would operate on any compromise candidate.

But whatever does happen, it will be a pleasure to watch the
Republican disarray.

_ROBERT KUTTNER is co-founder and co-editor of The American
Prospect, and professor at Brandeis University’s Heller School. His
latest book is Going Big: FDR’s Legacy, Biden’s New Deal, and the
Struggle to Save Democracy
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_Follow Bob at his site, robertkuttner.com
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_Read the original article at Prospect.org.
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Used with the permission. © The American Prospect, Prospect.org,
2022. All rights reserved. 
Click here to support the Prospect's brand of independent impact
journalism. [[link removed]]_

* Politics
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* House of Representatives
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* MAGA
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* Kevin McCarthy
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