Farce and Sophistry: The Difficult Birthing of a US House Speaker

Published in Workers' Daily
(China) on 21 October 2023
by Hai Yang (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Matthew McKay. Edited by Michelle Bisson.
The United States political arena has recently witnessed yet another spectacle. Earlier this month, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was removed following rebellion from within his own party, and for nearly three weeks since then, the office of the speaker of the House of Representatives has remained vacant. With the country’s entire legislative agenda now shelved, the Republican and Democratic parties have been incapable of electing McCarthy’s successor.*

The U.S. House of Representatives should be made up of 435 members, but there are currently 433; some 221 Republicans and 212 Democrats. A simple majority of 217 votes is required in a vote of the full House to be elected speaker. This means that as long as the Republican camp stays united, there is no doubt that they will elect a speaker.

The suspense is real, however. Jim Jordan, the candidate put forward by the Republican camp after all sorts of games, was unable to get the number of votes needed to ensure victory — and by some margin at that. Evidently, there is a fair number of people within the party who do not find the gentleman convincing. To all appearances, the august speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of America is once again experiencing a troublesome birth.

Earlier this year, the Republican Party, which regained control of the House last year, made McCarthy, a self-interested career politician, endure 15 rounds of voting before electing him speaker. American democracy truly treated itself to a heretofore unseen embarrassment —except that, less than 10 months later, Republicans voted to vacate McCarthy’s position, making history yet again.

Not only did the “protagonist” McCarthy single-handedly disgrace American democracy, he also exposed its underbelly. In fact, his troubled rise to and rapid fall from power and the current farce over electing his replacement share the same linear logic: between parties, and even between factions within parties, the only talk is of interests; they are completely incompatible and have utter disregard for the interests of the country and the well-being of the people.

During the election for speaker at the start of this year, McCarthy compromised in order to win the support of the ultra-conservative faction within his party, agreeing to reduce to one the number of lawmakers required to bring a “motion to vacate” the speaker position. When the ultra-conservatives were therefore dissatisfied with McCarthy’s recent concessions to the Democratic administration, they resorted to inflicting the coup de grâce and ousted him, resolutely stabbing him in the back during the vote.

The current divisions in public opinion and the polarization of politics in the U.S. have long been indisputable, and in the global scheme of things, such simple, crude and even savage democratic operations may be regarded as a spectacle. In the eyes of the world, when partisan and personal interests are pursued in the name of democracy, the so-called city on a hill has long since crumbled.

*Editor's note: Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana was elected speaker of the House Oct. 25.


美国政坛最近又现奇观:本月初共和党籍国会众议院议长凯文·麦卡锡遭党内“反水”被罢免至今,众议院议长缺位已近三周,任凭所有涉及国家大计的立法议程统统搁置,共和、民主两党生生就是选不出一个人来接任。

美国国会众议院应有435名众议员,现有433名众议员,共和党阵营和民主党阵营分别有221人和212人。当选众议院议长,需在众议院全院表决中获得简单多数支持即217票。这意味着,只要共和党阵营保持团结,拿下议长本无悬念。

然而,悬念可是实打实的存在。共和党阵营内部经过各种博弈才推出的候选人吉姆·乔丹就是拿不到确保胜选的票数,并且差距很大。显而易见,党内不买此君账的人还真不少。眼看堂堂美利坚合众国国会众议院议长又“难产”了。

今年年初,夺回众议院控制权的共和党阵营,愣是让踌躇满志的职业政客麦卡锡熬了15轮投票才如愿当上众议院议长。美式民主,当真经历了一把百年罕见尴尬。只是,不足10个月,麦卡锡又被拿了下来,再次创造了历史。

“主角”麦卡锡,以一己之力,既丢了美国民主的面子,也揭了美国民主的里子。其实,他的“艰难上位”与“痛快下台”,同此番众议院议长“难产”闹剧,都是同样的逻辑线:党派之间乃至党内派别之间只讲利益,水火不容,根本无视国家利益、民众福祉。

年初众议院议长选举时,麦卡锡为争取党内极端保守派支持而做出妥协,同意将提出罢免议长动议所需议员人数调低至1人。于是,当极端保守派不满麦卡锡向民主党政府让步时,便祭出罢免“大招”,更在表决时坚决“背后捅刀”。

当前,美国民意撕裂、政治极化早已是不争的事实,而如此简单、粗暴甚至蛮横的“民主操作”,放眼全世界也可谓奇观。当以民主之名牟取党派利益乃至个人私利,所谓“山巅之城”早已在世人眼中崩塌了。(记者 海洋)
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