With the successful betrayal of the House Republican Conference completed, it is clear the GOP faces two challenges. One is small. The other is enormous.
The small dilemma is to elect a new Speaker. It is a difficult job. The prospect of dealing with Republicans who rely on Democratic votes to defeat their own conference is likely disgusting to most. There is a deep grassroots desire for anger and upheaval. But rest assured: Several people will be willing to serve as Speaker.
The Speaker is, after all, third in line to become president. The Speaker is the only legislative officer named in the U.S. Constitution. You get a terrific office, a great view of the Mall, a large staff and a police escort. For the rest of your life, people refer to you as Speaker. It’s pretty cool.
So, people will step forward. Indeed, as I write this, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) have indicated they are running. Others are considering a run. House Republicans will meet next Tuesday to listen to the candidates. The conference will meet Wednesday and is expected to pick a new Speaker.
Just as with royalty: The Speaker is gone, salute the new Speaker. The constitutional system works. I experienced this in 1995 on the way in when I received the gavel from then-Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt (Mo.). I experienced it again on the way out in 1999 when Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) became the Speaker. (He would go on to be the longest-serving Republican Speaker in history.)
As an Army brat, I grew up watching change of command ceremonies. I understand that it was the position, not the person, that mattered. That was how I approached the Speakership. I was honored to be there, but I always thought it was on loan from the American people — never my personal property. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has the same healthy understanding of how power works in a constitutional republic.
So, the smaller challenge will be met by next Wednesday or Thursday. There will be a new Republican Speaker of the House, and the vast majority of the House Republican Conference will rally around and pledge to work with him or her.
That will set the stage for the much larger, harder predicament: how to get the GOP conference to band together as a single team so it can truly lead the narrowly split House, contend with the Democratic-moderate Republican coalition in the Senate and check the White House.
The first order of business must be how to deal with the “hateful eight” as The Spectator World editor Ben Domenech called them. When you have members who vote against 96 percent of the conference and side with 208 Democrats to defeat your own leader, you can hardly call them loyal Republicans. If a University of Georgia tackle turned and sacked his own quarterback, I doubt coach Kirby Smart would let him keep his uniform.
Further, the same cabal voted against a conservative continuing resolution that had cut spending by 8 percent. They voted against an even more conservative continuing resolution drafted by three leaders of the House Freedom Caucus. That measure cut spending by 30 percent and included the House Republican bill on controlling the border. They voted “no.” Ironically, the so-called moderate Republicans from the 18 districts carried by President Biden in 2020 all voted for the conservative continuing resolutions.
Then the eight attacked Speaker McCarthy for working with Democrats while they offered a motion to vacate the chair in which 208 Democrats voted with them to defeat the Republicans.
At a minimum, the conference should demand pledges from the eight that they will not vote for any other motions to vacate for the rest of this Congress. Otherwise, they should not be allowed to vote in the conference Speaker’s election. They have given up the right to pretend to be loyal Republicans, so why should they help pick the next Speaker?
Then, the conference should move on.
Republicans should devote at least four days to meetings about the road forward. Members must practice a mantra of listen, learn, help and lead. They also must practice cheerful persistence. Self-government is hard. With a tiny majority in a struggle for change against an entire national establishment, internal communication and team building are imperative.
In the short run, the House GOP should pass the appropriations bills (which then must be conferenced with the U.S. Senate and signed by the president). They must also pass the balanced budget plan that Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) and House Budget Committee Republicans have reported.
In the longer term, they should listen to each other and develop a popular legislative agenda that will unite them — around the American people — so they can govern as a majority, albeit a narrow one.
Republicans should then pool their resources to recruit and help fund enough candidates to add 20 to 30 seats next year, which would solve a lot of internal problems.
Essentially, House Republicans need to do what they always need to do: Listen to the American people — and represent them well.
Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) served as the 50th Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1995-1999. For more of his commentary, visit Gingrich360.com.