Category: 118th Congress

McCarthy Says He Would Consider Expunging Trump’s Impeachments

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) revealed Thursday that he would be open to the idea of “expunging” one or both of former President Donald Trump’s impeachments. When asked about the possibility of erasing the impeachments during a Jan. 12 press conference at the Capitol, McCarthy replied that he would “have to look” at the situation,…


Sheriff McCarthy Is in Town

Kevin McCarthy, the former GOP Minority Leader, has been elected Speaker of the House on the 15th attempt and set a new tone for the 118th Congress, making concessions to obstinate members of his own party. But what will the McCarthy Era accomplish? …


Second Amendment Groups Expect New House Majority to Stand and Fight For Gun Owners

Newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) tried to make hay with Republicans by starting the 118th Congress with a move to defund 87,000 new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents, but Second Amendment groups see the new Congress as a mixed blessing at best. While McCarthy was touting efforts to rein in the IRS, Gun…


The Big House Fight to Come Will Be the Debt Ceiling

Commentary Last week’s struggle in the House of Representatives to select Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as speaker of the House is probably the most contentious House battle most of us will see in our lifetimes. But there is another one coming that is far more important: the battle over the debt ceiling, which will be looming…


House Votes to Adopt Rules Package That Dissidents Demanded, McCarthy Accepted

Republicans held a spirited debate over the proposed rules to govern how the House of Representatives does its business in the 118th Congress and then adopted a major package of reforms they say will restore accountability and transparency for the public. The 55-page rules package was approved on a 220–213 vote that followed Republicans defeating…


Proposed Panel Would Give House GOP Oversight of ‘Ongoing Criminal Investigations’

Members of a proposed House subcommittee to investigate the “weaponization of the federal government” will have the authority to review ongoing criminal investigations if the new House rules package is approved on Jan. 9. Proposed as a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, the panel’s sweeping powers were agreed to by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)…


Experts: Speaker Vote Was Healthy Deliberation, Not the Media’s ‘Chaos, Confusion’

News Analysis Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) 15-roll-call route to becoming Speaker of the House was not the “chaos and confusion” claimed by Democrats and the mainstream media, but the deliberative debate intended by the authors of the Constitution, according to a wide spectrum of legislative experts. “What we’re talking about is writing the fundamental rules governing…


McCarthy, Jeffries Launch 118th Congress With Preview of Intense Partisanship to Come

Newly elected Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) launched his tenure leading the lower chamber of the 118th Congress by challenging colleagues in both political parties to work together to do the will of the American people expressed in the November 2022 midterm election. “You know, if the son of a fireman and the…


McCarthy’s New(est) Deal: The ‘Secret’ Details Were in the Gaggle

Four days, 14 votes, no Speaker of the House. But, with the chamber adjourned for the afternoon, a 15th vote is set for 10 p.m. Friday after 14 of the 20 Republican representatives who’d refused to support Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) tortured bid for the post agreeing to do so—for now.  “I know you’re all…


Why Freedom Caucus Members Are Now Voting for McCarthy for House Speaker

Four days, 14 votes, no Speaker of the House. But, with the chamber adjourned for the afternoon, a 15th vote is set for 10 p.m. Friday after 14 of the 20 Republican representatives who’d refused to support Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) tortured bid for the post agreeing to do so—for now.  “I know you’re all…