(The Center Square) – After a brief and intense debate, lawmakers passed the Republican-proposed House rules package, 215-209, for the incoming 119th Congress Friday evening.
Besides typical procedural updates and reforms, the resolution is stuffed with Republican objectives, such as eliminating the House’s Diversity and Inclusion office, authorizing subpoenas of officials connected to the investigation of the Biden family’s finances, and requiring congressional financial audits of potentially inflationary legislation.
Notably, the new rules make ousting the House speaker more difficult by allowing only members of the majority party to introduce motions to vacate, plus require at least eight cosponsors from the majority party.
Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., said raising the threshold is a commonsense way to prevent unwarranted challenges to the House speaker’s authority
“This change ensures that leadership challenges are not frivolously pursued, but instead reflect a genuine, collective concern shared by a broader group of members,” he said on the House floor. “It strikes a balance between protecting a Speaker’s ability to lead, and preserving the right of members to hold leadership accountable.”
The package also reverts the House Oversight and Accountability Committee to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and renames the Office of Congressional Ethics to the Office of Congressional Conduct.
Much to Democrats’ ire, Republicans added two last-minute measures immediately after the House speaker election, one “restoring family-centric language” in the rules and the other forbidding the speaker from entertaining a motion that the House suspend the rules except on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., accused Republicans of caving to their most extreme members.
“Clearly, Republicans have decided to double down on the dysfunction,” he said. “So I don’t want to hear any lectures about bipartisanship.”
McGovern referenced 12 non-amendable bills included in the package for future consideration that would fulfill multiple Republican objectives, including strengthened voter registration requirements and the protection of biological sex distinctions in sports under Title IX rules.
Several bills relate to border security, including legislation making sanctuary cities ineligible for migrant program federal funds and authorizing the deportation of migrants who commit certain crimes.
Other bills would prohibit moratoriums on hydraulic fracking, protect the lives of newborns who survive abortions, and let the U.S. government impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court if it goes after “any protected person of the United States and its allies.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said the legislation is merely a Republican distraction that fails to address the problems relevant to Americans.
“This rules package makes very clear what the Republican majority will not do in the 119th Congress,” Jayapal said. “After presiding over the 118th Congress and enacting the least amount of legislation in history signed into law that actually benefits the American people, Republicans want to continue that tradition by fast-tracking twelve bills that do nothing to lower costs or raise wages for the American people.”
Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., disagreed.
“[These bills] show unequivocally our party’s support for securing our borders, standing up for the right to life, ensuring that only American citizens are allowed to vote for national office, providing lower cost energy for American families and businesses, and stopping the scourge of drugs like fentanyl from entering our communities,” Crawford said. “I thank our entire leadership team for putting forward this fair and forward-thinking package.”
One Democrat joined Republicans in supporting the bill. Five Democrats and five Republicans abstained from voting.