Surprise…..
The media focus has been on California House Rep. McCarthy trying to get the Speaker gig….
A piece in the Grid has pointed to something more important…..
The Freedom Caucus changing how the American Congress operates…..
This is virtually impossible….
But?
The the rightwingnuts are in the 4th day of trying…..
A week after the midterm elections in November, a small group of far-right GOP lawmakers and activists gathered on K Street in Washington, D.C., to discuss strategies to use their narrow majority to extract power in the House. The next Congress, influential activist Ed Corrigan said, could be a “European-style coalition government” run by three groups: “The Democrats, the Republicans and the Freedom Caucus.”
The forum was convened by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and attended by several other lawmakers, including two others who helped block Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) this week from becoming House speaker: Reps. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Victoria Spartz, R-Ind.
The strategy outlined by Corrigan went beyond just extracting concessions from House leaders — it amounted to a game plan for the House Freedom Caucus to operate as a third party in a de facto parliamentary system, essentially co-governing the chamber with mainstream Republicans. As lawmakers prepared for a seventh round of voting on Thursday, House Republicans appeared to be on the precipice of allowing that to happen.
“What would coalition government look like in practice?” Corrigan asked the group, which was filmed and livestreamed but has attracted little notice beyond conservative media. “I would recommend the Freedom Caucus would be granted a specific number of committee assignments, and committee and subcommittee chairmanships,” as well as a variety of other new powers, including putting a Freedom Caucus member as chairman of the powerful House Rules Committee….
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In practice, however, “it would be implausible” for the House Freedom Caucus to control the House through its Rules Committee, said Tim LaPira, professor of political science at James Madison University. The Rules Committee represents one small minority faction within the Republican Party, and enactment of rules requires a majority vote in the House. Any other small group of Republicans could join with Democrats to defeat a hypothetical Freedom Caucus-led rules package…..