Republican Kevin McCarthy's election as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives early on Saturday (January 7) on the 15th ballot brought an end to the deepest congressional dysfunction in over 160 years.
Electing a speaker has for almost a century seemed a routine exercise for the party controlling the chamber, but the infighting has led to more rounds of voting than in any Congress since before the U.S. Civil War.
Some critics warn that even with McCarthy's victory, he may not be able to control his fractious caucus.
Reuters political correspondent, Andy Sullivan.
"Others have said this is really alarming, that, like there is this basic job you guys have to do and that's to, you know, get things going and start running the trains. And they're not able to do that. They say it's worrisome for democracy."
Republicans' narrow victory in the House in 2022 left McCarthy a razor-thin majority.
And a group of 20 Republican hold-outs have held off any victory in numerous ballots this week.
Allan J. Lichtman is the distinguished professor of American History at American University.
"McCarthy is the ultimate 'Gumby man,' the rubber man. He has no secure principles. The only thing he cares about is attaining the speakership, attaining power. The Gumby man has bent himself into a pretzel to give concessions to the radicals in order to gain power. And this is, frankly, one reason why the radicals don't want him. They want someone with more of a backbone, more of a fortitude, someone willing, no matter what the consequences, to follow their radical agenda. They don't think McCarthy is the man, although they're sure gotten a lot out of him."
Concessions that McCarthy made in hopes of securing the House speakership are raising fears that the empowered hardliners will push further, in ways that could prove consequential to the country.
"There's one or two things they're going to have to get done that's going to be really problematic over the course of 2023. One is funding the government. They've got to pass these basic spending bills that can keep the Defense Department, the Justice Department, etc. running. This could be difficult. And then the real biggie is raising the federal debt ceiling. Congress is going to have to extend the government's borrowing authority sometime maybe this summer. // So the concern here is that if you give these hardliners too much power, then they will be in a position will they'll be calling the shots when it comes time to raise the debt ceiling."
As he took the gavel for the first time, McCarthy represented the end of President Joe Biden's Democrats' hold on both chambers of Congress.
