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The House of Representatives has adopted new rules that make it harder to invoke a vote to remove the Speaker.
House members voted 215-209 along party lines to set the floor rules for the 119th Congress.
The measures included raising the standard for calling a “motion to vacate the Speaker,” which triggers a vote of the entire House to remove a sitting Speaker.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) agreed to lower the threshold to one person to win the holdout and hold the speaker’s gavel in January 2023, when the 118th Congress begins.
However, the 119th Congress has now raised that number from one to nine and further amended the rules to provide that nine members of the incumbent majority party must call the vote.
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Speaker Mike Johnson led the House to make it difficult to oust him from the top job. (Getty)
This sparked outrage among Democrats, who accused Republicans of undermining the importance of the minority party.
“Their proposed changes would, for the first time in American history, shield the speaker from accountability to the entire chamber by allowing only Republicans to move to oust him,” said Representative Jim McGovern, D-Mass. ” he said. Top Democrat on the House Rules Committee.
“This makes it clear that they have no intention of working together to find common ground. Instead of electing a Speaker of the House, they elect the Chairman of the Republican Conference who has been held hostage by the most radical members.” I have decided to do so.”
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Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was removed from office after agreeing to lower standards for motions to vacate the Speaker. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Notably, Mr. McCarthy was ousted by eight House Republicans and all House Democrats after former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) requested a motion to vacate the Speaker’s chair in October 2023. worth it.
After Mr Johnson won the speaker’s gavel later that month, the one-vote threshold stuck with him like a sword of Damocles for more than a year.
The change is the result of negotiations between the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus and the more pragmatic Republican Main Street Caucus.
Other changes in the new House Republican rules package include replacing gender-neutral family language such as “child” and “parent” with more gender-based language such as son, daughter, mother, and father. Included.
Former Congressman Matt Gaetz led the effort to oust Mr. McCarthy (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
It would also limit the ability of the Speaker to bypass the traditional parliamentary process and rush bills to the House through a mechanism known as “suspension of the rules.”
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Johnson’s use of the moratorium to pass key legislation with support from Democrats angered hard-line Republicans in the House Republican Conference.
Under the new policy, Prime Minister Boris Johnson can only bring House of Commons bills to a vote on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Elizabeth Elkind is a political reporter for FOX News Digital, where she leads coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines can be found on the Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow @liz_elkind on Twitter and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com.
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