Lately, I’ve been finding myself shaking my head at just how ridiculous this ongoing drama over electing a new House Speaker is. The situation already makes Republicans look completely dysfunctional and unable to govern, but it’s even worse as there have been reports that Republicans are looking for help from the Democrats to get a speaker elected.
House Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) essentially confirmed that is the case during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet The Press” on Sunday when he revealed that “informal conversations” are taking place for a bipartisan solution to electing a House Speaker.
“Are you actually having conversations behind the scenes with the Republican counterparts about trying to create a bipartisan solution, a governing coalition?” asked anchor Kristen Welker.
“There are informal conversations that have been underway,” Jeffries told her. “When we get back to Washington tomorrow, it’s important to begin to formalize those discussions. At this point, that is on my House Republican colleagues. We have made clear, publicly and privately, that we are ready, willing, and able to enter into a bipartisan governing coalition that puts the American people first and solves problems for hardworking American taxpayers.”
Related: What the House GOP Can Learn From the Democrats
Jeffries added, “We want to ensure that votes are taken on bills that have substantial Democratic support and substantial Republican support so that the extremists aren’t able to dictate the agenda. The current rules of the House have facilitated a handful of Republicans being able to determine what gets voted on in the House of Representatives, and that undermines the interests of the American people. We can change the rules to facilitate bipartisanship, and that should be the starting point of our conversation.”
I don’t care how we elect a speaker, but at no point should Republicans make a deal with the Democrats. Any deal with the Democrats will require giving Democrats something they want. What would Republicans have to give up to get Democrats on board? What policy objectives would Republicans have to sacrifice? I don’t even want to guess. Democrats already control the Senate and the White House. The House of Representatives is the only check on their absolute power.
What might happen to the investigation of Joe Biden or the impeachment inquiry if Republicans have to make a deal with Democrats to elect a speaker? The 2022 midterm elections may not have given the GOP a large majority in the House, but it gave them a majority.
The American people voted for a check on the Democrats’ absolute power, and this is no time to cut deals with Democrats to give up what American voters asked for. And if that’s not bad enough, any sort of deal would turn Democrats into the heroes and give them a huge vote of confidence in the eyes of the voters, particularly independent voters, who actually might buy into the act that they want a “bipartisan solution.” They don’t. They want to undermine the Republicans, plain and simple. Let’s just hope Republicans aren’t desperate enough to fall for it.