Day Three of the ongoing evisceration of Representative Kevin McCarthy’s candidacy to become Speaker of the House of Representative (and for my money the evisceration of his will to live!) is gavelled into session by the reigning Clerk of the House of Representatives, Cheryl Johnson.
The Clerk is not a member of the House as a representative but oversees all the administrative tasks that allow the House to do it’s day to day business. Reading bills, tallying and recording the results of votes, and deploying the army of stenographers to capture every word that is said for later publication in the Congressional Record are but a few of the essential tasks performed by those who work in the Clerk’s office.
Her most important duty has been on display these past three days being the chair ruling the House of Representatives until the proper election of a Speaker.
Wrangling 400+ politicians is a daunting task at the best of times, especially when the usual rules of decorum and House procedure have not yet been put in place because that is the second order of business after the election of the Speaker. Herding cats would often be preferable!
Doing so and keeping an even keel in the mad situation she finds herself and in spite of the occasional breaches of normal debate niceties is certainly a Herculean task that Cheryl Johnson has passed with flying colours.
Is it any wonder that someone yelled out during the nominations for one of the five votes that took place today “Cheryl Johnson for Speaker!”.
Truth be told, that’s a better idea than any of the nominees I’ve seen in the eleven previous failed votes.
As has been pointed out a few times during the preceding votes, the Constitution does not require the Speaker to be a member of Congress which is why even former President Donald Trump was nominated during a couple of the votes in this relatively marathon session compared to the first two days.
Elevating Cheryl Johnson to the Speaker’s Chair certainly would have it’s advantages.
Unlike Kevin McCarthy, she really isn’t beholden to anyone nor would she have to concede to the humiliating concessions being demanded of Kevin McCarthy that have effectively gutted any semblance of authority or respect the position would have.
She’s shown more than a few times that she’s not inclined to put up with any monkey shines amongst the members when she’s demanded order and required members-elect who were taking personal swipes at other members to direct their remarks to the chair.
That would be her.
Truth be told, I don’t think you can find a stronger and fairer occupant for the Speaker’s chair than the House’s current Clerk.
There’s no chance she’ll actually be so chosen but one can dare to dream.
Maybe it’s time we seriously consider a non-partisan Speaker in the House of Representatives.
That’s actually how it’s done in the House of Commons in the UK…when a Speaker is elected, they are chosen from amongst the MPs and once so elected is considered to be alone and not a member of a political party and expected to act with impartiality and favour toward none during the business of the House. When there is an election, the Speaker runs as “the Speaker seeking re-election”.
One can argue that Speaker John Bercow was much more of an activist Speaker of the House of Commons and some of his decisions during the Brexit debates were considered more partisan than ought to be but that aside, he was certainly an entertaining ringmaster of that circus in Westminster.
Sir Lindsay Hoyle has returned to the more traditional conducting of affairs from the Speaker’s chair since Bercow’s retirement. One might well consider him boring by comparison but the Speaker’s chair is meant for someone who is even keeled and perhaps even a bit boring.
Cheryl Johnson certainly wouldn’t be boring and I don’t see her being pushed around by the politicians.
We could certainly choose far worse.
In fact, I’m convinced that when Operation Chaos is done, we’ll have done just that.
Cheryl Johnson for Speaker! 🙂
Nothing really of note to report from the five votes that were taken today other than Rep Matt Gaetz of Florida voting for former President Trump and a gradual erosion of support from Rep Byron Donalds to Rep Kevin Hern.
The discussions (or extortion sessions depending on how you view them) will continue after adjournment.