# House Speaker Contest **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 12, 2022, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770 "2022-11-12T00:48:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 51
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1001 "2023-01-05T16:18:36Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > There’s no ‘remain.’ There is no speaker right now. There aren’t even representatives, if I understand correctly. Just representatives-_elect._ Exactly, and at the moment, as I understand it, all that they are empowered to do is: - Vote for candidates for the Speakership - Vote to adjourn a session ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1002 "2023-01-05T16:24:44Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The Speaker will be unable to guarantee a majority, which makes them weak to the point of irrelevance. …unless they actually put some effort into bipartisan deal-making. Unlikely, I know, but not impossible. But there’s at least some hope that the current shit show might actually get some Republicans to finally recognize exactly how dysfunctional their party has become. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1003 "2023-01-05T16:25:26Z")
Right. It is totally usual and customary for members-elect and leaders-presumptive to start moving into their would-be new offices over the holidays after the election. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1004 "2023-01-05T16:26:08Z")
They can also vote to change the rules on choosing a Speaker. Historically have had times to switch to plurality for example. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1005 "2023-01-05T16:26:49Z")
Given a success via the Kevin kaves scenario with a single vote to remove being back on the table do you estimate his time as speaker will be measured in imperial scarammuccis or in the metric truss? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1006 "2023-01-05T16:28:59Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > …unless they actually put some effort into bipartisan deal-making. How much overlap is there between the centrists of the GOP and the centrists of the D side? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1007 "2023-01-05T16:29:23Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > in imperial scarammuccis or in the metric truss? It’s the Unites States. You know the answer. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1008 "2023-01-05T16:30:27Z")
That’s what I was about to say… with the howler-monkey faction in the GOP being obstructionist, that pretty much gives no one a majority, unless the rest of the GOP is willing to go along with them, OR reach across the aisle in the spirit of bipartisanship. It all comes down to just how odious their own far-right wing is to them and their goals. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1009 "2023-01-05T16:32:57Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > How much overlap is there between the centrists of the GOP and the centrists of the D side? Hopefully enough. Maybe make a deal to avoid the third rail issues like abortion, and just focus on the stuff everyone actually agrees with. Like infrastructure. Essentially everyone knows the US needs to repair a whole lot of bridges, and so it shouldn’t be so hard to pass a bill that deals with this, so long as they don’t let some nutbag add riders about completely unrelated bullshit. Get even a few simple, popular bills like that through the House, and maybe we can get back to something more like normal politics, once the crazy wing sees that it has become irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1010 "2023-01-05T16:34:48Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Maybe make a deal to avoid the third rail issues like abortion, and just focus on the stuff everyone actually agrees with There is no mechanism to hold anyone to a promise. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1011 "2023-01-05T16:38:17Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > There is no mechanism to hold anyone to a promise. At which point, nothing gets done, which is where we already are. If you’ve given up hope of ever meeting the other side half-way, I can understand that, but then, why waste your time paying attention to the current shit show? Just go play video games or something until the next election. Ultimately, the US either fixes its politics, or it self-destructs. Might as well at least _try_ for the fix first. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1012 "2023-01-05T16:38:50Z")
I suspect McCarthy’s plan is something like: 1. Agree to a bunch of ludicrous concessions. 2. Make noises about democratic processes and hold party votes. 3. Make more noises about the democratic process when the ludicrous concessions get smacked down by the non-hardliners. ---
**Author:** ![lum\_s\_husband](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lum_s_husband/32/3698_2.png) [@lum\_s\_husband](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lum_s_husband)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1013 "2023-01-05T16:39:10Z")
Since this problem is within the Democrats’ power to resolve, the question is whether they are truly the “adults in the room” with a desire to govern. ---
**Author:** ![mjmartin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3d9bf3/32.png) [@mjmartin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmartin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1014 "2023-01-05T16:39:41Z")
Could Trump solve this? Most of the hold outs are die hard MAGAs. If he went on Truth and said, “I am calling out Matt Gaetz, you are ruining the party, knock it off. If you don’t I will back your challenger in the next primary” would that be enough? I believe that the only thing he has said so far has been pretty half heartedly in support of McCarthy, and not specifically calling out the hold outs. Wouldn’t “saving the party” be a big win for him? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1015 "2023-01-05T16:39:53Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Right. It is totally usual and customary for members-elect and leaders-presumptive to start moving into their would-be new offices over the holidays after the election. It’s also customary to have completed leadership negotiations within their caucus during that time. Someone should have spent a little more time on that than looking at drapery samples. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1016 "2023-01-05T16:40:25Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > But there’s at least some hope that the current shit show might actually get some Republicans to finally recognize exactly how dysfunctional their party has become. This seems to require a degree of self-awareness that current GOP members do not possess. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1017 "2023-01-05T16:41:26Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > There is no mechanism to hold anyone to a promise. It occurs to me that this also applies to the Howler Monkey Caucus. Fine, McCarthy caves into their demands, agrees to the ridiculous rules they want, and gets elected Speaker. Then he screws the HMC, and introduces a normal set of rules, knowing the 90% of the GOP that is already voting for him will back that, as will all the Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1018 "2023-01-05T16:41:44Z")
> [@lum\_s\_husband](#): > > Since this problem is within the Democrats’ power to resolve, the question is whether they are truly the “adults in the room” with a desire to govern. The adults in the room don’t give the kids a knife or gun and tell them to go play with it. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1019 "2023-01-05T16:41:57Z")
No. TFG values loyalty above all else. Mr Gaetz has proven to be one of TFG’s most fervent butt-snorkelers. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2023, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770/1020 "2023-01-05T16:41:59Z")
> [@mjmartin](#): > > Could Trump solve this? No. He has completely evaporated as a concern for House Republicans. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770.md?page=50) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-speaker-contest/974770.md?page=52)