An expert on Congress helps untangle the mess that is Kevin McCarthy’s life as speaker of the House right now.
Members of the House Freedom Caucus speak to reporters on July 14, 2023, hours before the House passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act.
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The news media spent a lot of time reporting on how much progressive Democrats and conservative Republicans didn’t like the debt ceiling deal. But centrists had enough votes to pass it in the House.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, left, meets with President Joe Biden to discuss the debt limit in the White House on May 22, 2023.
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Brinkmanship means coming to the edge of potential default on the US debt ceiling. Are lawmakers negotiating the debt limit representing the wishes and interests of their voters?
Reinstituted rules in the U.S. House of Representatives allow members to fire federal staffers and cut programs.
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House Republicans have adopted a rule used periodically over the past 150 years that allows lawmakers to speed up and streamline votes to dismantle federal programs and fire federal employees.
GOP House leader Kevin McCarthy wants to be speaker of the House.
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The Congress that ended on Jan. 3, 2023, had 15 vacancies, a rate unmatched since the 1950s. If that rate continues, whoever leads the now-closely divided House will face trouble.