Ending the House dysfunction

The dysfunctional House of Representatives can be fixed by substituting transparency and democracy for the current secret and dictatorial rules and practices of the House Speaker that presently govern House Republicans in the People’s chamber.

Most citizens would be stunned to know that neither written nor unwritten rules determine the selection of members to the House Republican Steering Committee or define its authorities.  All of the rules are made up or changed on the spot by the Speaker as if he were Russian President Vladimir Putin dictating to the Russian Duma.   

{mosads}In the current 114^th Congress, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) unilaterally selected the 33-member Steering Committee based on personal loyalty to himself.  He unilaterally gave himself five votes.   He unilaterally conferred on the Steering Committee authority to make or revoke committee assignments or appoint or remove committee chairs.  The Speaker can change the make-up of the Steering Committee or alter or revoke its powers at any time without notice and without challenge.  High school student government features more transparency, due process, and democracy than this. 

The Speaker unilaterally decides the timing, terms, and conditions of floor votes on bills or resolutions.  Speaker Boehner has forbidden floor amendments to muzzle debate through more closed rules than any other Speaker in the history of the House—including Nancy Pelosi, the Iron Lady of American Politics.  He has had major bills passed with unannounced floor votes with only a handful of members present in the chamber.

The latest display of Speaker Boehner’s dictatorial practices was unveiled when the House Republican Conference convened last Friday to vote on a successor.  When the Speaker’s favorite Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) withdrew, the Speaker abruptly ended the meeting unilaterally without a motion or a second to prevent a vote between the remaining candidates, Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Daniel Webster (R-Fla.).  Does anyone doubt that Boehner would have moved forward with a vote if either of the latter candidates withdrew but McCarthy remained?  He wishes to control all the players in the game like Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  

The Speaker’s dictatorial methods have naturally awakened deep resentments among the House Republican rank and file.  They have been reduced to the insignificance of extras in a cinematic extravaganza.  That is indefensible, and explains why they chronically refuse to bow to the Speaker’s voting commands.  As former Sen. Arthur Vandenberg (R-Mich.) advised, if you want members on the landing, you must provide them seats on the takeoff.

All House members stand on an equal constitutional footing.

They are popularly elected by approximately equal numbers of citizens.

Their votes count the same on the House floor.

The voices of their constituents are equally entitled to be heard and considered.

No constitutional or democratic theory of any moment justifies the Speaker’s dictatorial way of doing business.  It contradicts majority rule.  It contradicts due process.  It contradicts the Constitution.  It contradicts transparency. And it contradicts the rightful and reasonable expectations of the American people in truly representative government.

The problem is no novelty.  In 1910, House Republicans confronted dictatorial powers wielded by then House Speaker Joe Cannon (R-Ill.).  He controlled committee assignments and the selection of committee chairs.  He controlled all legislation that would receive a floor vote.  Then Speaker Cannon employed his absolutism to frustrate popular legislation championed by Progressive Republicans lead by George Norris (R-Neb.).  House Republicans and Democrats voted to strip the Speaker of these concentrated powers by a rule change in favor of a more democratic dispensation.  The result brought forth a flurry of statutes that faithfully reflected popular will and a government of the people, by the people, for the people.

The House Republican Conference should adopt democratic rules changes memorialized in writing to prevent any House Speaker from effectively disenfranchising or muzzling duly elected Republican members of the House through dictatorial powers.  The Republican Steering Committee should consist of 19 members.  Of that number, 13 should be selected from 13 geographic regions, and 6 should be elected at-large.  The Steering Committee should make committee assignments, but committee members themselves should elect their chairs.  No committee member should be involuntarily removed.  The Rules Committee should set the timing, terms, and conditions for floor votes and debate.  The House Speaker should be limited to two terms, and should not serve on the Rules Committee.  And the new rules should be subject to change by a majority vote of the conference. 

Depend upon it.  If the House Republican rules are not democratized, then the House will remain dysfunctional irrespective of who occupies the Speakership.    

Fein was associate deputy attorney general under President Reagan, and is author of American Empire Before The Fall.