This is the worse parliamentary process undertaken, globally, in my living memory, and although I am not the expert historian, I do not recall in history anything I have read – if so, please tell me.
- The former U.S. parliamentary speaker, Kevin McCarthy, was thrown out of his office by his own Party (GOP, on October 3, 2023) when he allowed a money bill to pass in order to keep the government functioning. McCarthy had taken 15 rounds to get to the Speakership in January 2023.
- In the October process, Steve Scalise (LA 1), House Majority Leader, won the initial vote of the Party, but withdrew from the Parliamentary process on October 12.
- Austin Scott (GA 8), initially endorsed Scalise, and ran after Scalise withdrew, then endorsed Jordan.
- Jim Jordan (OH 4), Chair of the House Judiciary Committee had lost the initial Party vote and endorsed Scalise, but ran again after Scalise withdrew.
- Jim Jordan (OH 4) had entered the October 2023 special election for speaker three-times, and lost without sufficient numbers being obtained (over 50% of the vote): first ballot on October 17 (46.3%), and second ballot October 20 (46%).
- Today, October 20, 2023, Jim Jordan (OH 4) lost the third ballot. Immediately after…
- A group of House Republicans, including Jordan, supported a controversial proposal that would expand the power of a temporary speaker (Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick T. McHenry R-N.C.). Then immediately after…
- A significant number of his far-right colleagues balked at the idea in a tense, hours-long meeting, and Jordan reversed course from earlier in the day. Thus concluded the farce to date (October 20).
With less bloodshed, it is a not so entertaining farce from Cromwell’s The Protectorate, officially the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, from 16 December 1653 to 25 May 1659. The collapse of the American Republic, in current practice, from the three century old model.
POSTSCRIPT 25 October 2023
9. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the House majority whip, was elected on the fifth ballot in the GOP internal race that drew nine Republican candidates, on 24 October. Within 24 hours and hours before facing the House election, Emmer dropped his bid for House speaker. It is said that there was a Trumpian backlash on his nomination.
10. On the same day that Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) dropped his bid for House speaker, Mike Johnson (R-La.) was elected in an internal vote by the GOP conference.
11. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) was elected speaker Wednesday 25th October by the full House on a first vote. Johnson, a relatively unknown, staunchly conservative Republican, succeeds Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), whose ouster this month was led by hard-right members of the party.
REFERENCES
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/us/politics/house-speaker-jim-jordan.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/19/house-speaker-vote-live/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protectorate
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Neville Buch
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