The US House of Representatives begins a crucial week in the search for a new president with a vote scheduled for Tuesday, as the institution is still paralyzed by an internal war between Republicans that prevents it from voting on any text.
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No “speaker,” no envelope for Ukraine, which Russia invaded, nor for Israel, which is at war with Hamas. There will also be no vote on the state budget, which expires in a few weeks.
Congress has two chambers: one, the Senate, is won by Joe Biden’s Democrats, but the other, the House of Representatives, in the hands of the Republicans, is experiencing unprecedented chaos.
The vast majority of that institution’s powers were suspended by the surprise October 3 firing of “Speaker” Kevin McCarthy, a victim of divisions between moderates and Trumpists in the Republican Party. Since then, the conservatives have been unable to agree on his successor.
After a high-stakes week marked by numerous twists and turns, Ohio elected official Jim Jordan, who is very close to Donald Trump, is currently the only Republican candidate in the race.
“We all have to stick together and get back to work,” pleaded the fifty-year-old on Monday at
But as it stands, he doesn’t have enough support from his Republican colleagues to win the job, and moderate elected officials criticize him for taking too extreme positions.
At the end of the day, the group meets for another closed session in the hope of finally burying the hatchet.
An example of the tension surrounding these negotiations, which is often commented on live by elected officials on social networks: all cell phones have been banned in the room.
The pressure on the House of Representatives to return to function is even greater as the Senate, the other chamber of Congress, plans to debate several measures on Israel this week, starting with the confirmation of a new ambassador.
Joe Biden’s Democratic Party is in the minority in the House of Representatives and is therefore primarily a spectator of the chaotic negotiations in Congress.
Unless there is a surprise alliance with moderate Republicans that could also put an end to this unprecedented situation.
“The extremists have destroyed the House of Representatives,” Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Monday, believing that “only a bipartisan coalition can bring it back together.”