Our recent book is titled Divided We Stand: The 2020 Elections and American Politics. Among other things, it discusses the state of the parties.
The letter from HFC Chair SCOTT PERRY (R-Pa.), Republican Reps. CHIP ROY (Texas), DAN BISHOP (N.C.), ANDREW CLYDE (Ga.), PAUL GOSAR (Ariz.) and Reps.-Elect ELI CRANE (Ariz.) and ANDY OGLES (Tenn.) makes several demands of any would-be Republican speaker, including that they:
- Reinstate the “motion to vacate” — basically, allowing any member of the House to force a vote to oust the sitting speaker. The letter notes that the rule was “in place for a reason from 1801 to 2018”;
- Provide the House with 72 hours of notice on every bill and grant members the ability to amend legislative text;
- Promise that Republican leadership and associated outside entities (like the McCarthy-aligned Congressional Leader Fund) will not wade into primaries;
- Give conservatives more representation on so-called “A” committees, including the House Rules panel;
- Use must-pass bills to try to secure a number of policy wins, including: (1) leveraging the annual defense authorization to reinstate service members who were dismissed due to their refusal to get the Covid vaccine, (2) forcing any debt ceiling increase to be accompanied by spending cuts, and (3) requiring the farm bill to include cuts to food stamps.
A reminder: The seven members on the letter are completely separate from the five other conservatives who have voiced their intention to vote against McCarthy regardless of what assurances he makes. Read the full letter here
