GOP harakiri in the House of Representatives

The Republican Party is committing suicide in the House of Representatives. The division among its own members is preventing the GOP from taking advantage of the slim majority it holds, including in key votes such as whether to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. What's more, on several occasions, votes from at least eight Republican representatives have allowed Democrats to overthrow a speaker, expel a Republican congressman or approve increases in government spending. As if that were not enough, Republicans’ margin in the House will be reduced to a single seat in the near future after the official announcement that former Speaker Kevin McCarthy is leaving Congress and the announced departures of Democrat Brian Higgins and Republican Bill Johnson before the end of the legislature..

A precarious majority of one seat

After the expulsion of George Santos and the announcement that McCarthy is stepping down, the Republican majority in the House is dwindling. Noticeably angry, conservative Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene warned after the dismissal of Santos that the three majority votes they had at that time would be reduced to two, and that was only if the party turned out and voted together. This seems like it would be a given, but it has been an obstacle for House Republicans. Even worse, Taylor Greene’s damning prediction did not anticipate the former speaker saying goodbye at the end of the year.

With McCarthy and Santos out, the balance of power is 220 seats for the Republicans and 213 for the Democrats. The required majority drops to 217, but it should be noted that votes as "present" or absentees may even further reduce the number of votes required to move forward or reject initiatives, complicating the arithmetic for GOP leaders. Something that would be further exacerbated in the event that the ousted congressman's seat ends up in the hands of the Blue Party in the special election on February 13 next year.

The division in the party has granted big triumphs to the Democrats, despite being a minority. Thanks to the initiative of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and votes from eight other Republicans, the Democrats claimed a major victory, ousting former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Progressive legislators had no qualms about voting in bloc for his removal, when the main reason was the negotiation of several laws, especially the Continuity Resolution, that resulted in increasing the debt ceiling and avoiding a government shutdown.

Double standard for Democrats

Likewise, it was votes from 105 GOP representatives that allowed the 212 Democrats to obtain a sufficient majority to expel Santos from the House. Curiously, the moral criteria that led to the New York representative losing his seat before he was found guilty in court does not seem to apply to progressives.

For example, there were the corruption accusations against Senator Bob Menéndez, the suspicions that Nancy Pelosi and her husband benefited from inside information to make a fortune in the stock market, the evidence that Adam Schiff lied and pressured the media and social media platforms to spread the hoax of Russian collusion, Swalwell and his Chinese spy, and the controversies surrounding several members of the socialist bloc “The Squad,” like Representative Rashida Tlaib helping anti-Israel protesters access congressional offices. There was also Jamaal Bowman, who activated a fire alarm before a crucial vote. The lies he told to justify these actions will not even be investigated by the House.

In fact, Taylor Greene's motion to censure Tlaib for her actions fell two votes short, since a large group of Republican representatives refused to vote together.

Concern and confusion among GOP voters

The Republican Party is shooting itself in the foot in the House, and this is alarming voters, who are seeing several of the party's main objectives in danger. For example, the impeachment of Mayorkas for inaction in the face of the border crisis, or of President Biden himself in light of the discoveries that various commissions are bringing to light about the first family's shady business dealings. As Taylor Greene stated on X, formerly Twitter: