How does a ‘frozen’ U.S. House function without a speaker?

Night-view-of-Capitol-1024x683 A nighttime view of the U.S. Capitol is captured from the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building. Photo by the U.S. Architect of the Capitol.

Ecclesiastes 5:8 If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still

Important Takeaways:

  • The stunning ouster of U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday — the first time a speaker has been removed in Congress’ 234-year history — created a leadership vacuum in the chamber and left multiple questions about how legislative business would proceed.
  • “There’s absolutely no precedents on any of this because this hasn’t happened before.”
  • “We’re not able to actually advance legislation. We can’t even refer bills to committee.”
  • “You can’t offer subpoenas, you can’t go after Hunter Biden, you can’t go after any of the controversies that this administration has carried out,” Graves said.
  • “The most fundamental thing about the House is a majority of the House can do anything the majority wants to do,” Roberts said.
  • The House speaker is second in the line of succession to the presidency, behind only the vice president. With that office vacant, the president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, currently Washington Democrat Patty Murray, would move up to second in line
  • While McHenry could exercise most of the speaker’s powers within the House, he is not technically the speaker for the purposes of succession.
  • “Officially, the speaker’s office is vacant”

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