The official House rules package, which all but one Republican voted for, passed Monday. It includes a single-member motion to vacate the chair and a requirement that tax increases receive 60% support before becoming law. The rules also require that legislation have only one subject and give members 72 hours to read bills. Republicans are also creating a new Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government under the House Judiciary Committee.
It’s a good start.
Most of the provisions negotiated by the leadership team and the GOP “rebels,” actually just holdouts, are not included in the rules package voted on by members, as noted by The Daily Caller.
“It has to do with personnel, how members of the conference will be appropriately distributed to key committees. It is about policy imperatives. There are critical issues that we must address,” North Carolina Rep. Dan Bishop told reporters Friday.
McCarthy named Florida Rep. Byron Donalds to the GOP Steering Committee over the weekend, making him the second Freedom Caucus member. Arizona Rep. Debbie Lesko is also on the panel. The Steering Committee doles out committee assignments to the Republican conference writ large. The Steering Committee chose Tennessee Rep. Mark Green, also a member of the Freedom Caucus, to lead the House Homeland Security Committee on Monday. Green beat out Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a McCarthy ally who constantly attacks the Freedom Caucus.
— Rep. Mary Miller (@RepMaryMiller) January 7, 2023
You can comment on the article after the ads and subscribe to the Daily Newsletter here if you would like a quick view of the articles of the day and any late news:
The Congress still needs huge reforms. but this is a start. One area the Congress needs more power is over the Bureaucracy. Any Bureaucrat who is called before Congress and Lies, Stone Walls, takes the Fifth or just simply pisses off the Committee Chairman, should be referred to the Full House (or Senate) by the Committee for immediate dismissal and if applicable referrals to the Justice Department. If the Bureaucrat makes a claim of Classified Information the Committee should then go into Closed Session and hear the testimony. The Congress needs to flex it’s muscles when it comes to oversight and the Bureaucracy should not be allowed to withhold anything from the Congress.
Some of what has become the Worst Bureaucracies are also needed. It’s not so much the Institution as the People running the Bureaucracy and building an Empire separate from Government. The Congress must have the power to hold these people in contempt of Congress (Jail them) by a vote of the Committee, immediately try them by a vote of the Full House (or Senate), and remove them from Federal Government service immediately and permanently. These powerful Bureaucrats need to look at lose of benefits and pensions when refusing to acknowledge the oversight power of Congress and this power should not be debatable in the Courts. The Firing of a Bureaucrat should be no more difficult than an up or down vote of house of Congress. These People do not hold a Political Office so they shouldn’t need to be Impeached. These People serve at the Pleasure of the President and the Congress and there needs to be a streamlined means to fire them. With exercising this power the Congress can handily get back control of the Bureaucracy without having to destroy the Bureaucracy. Anytime a Bureaucrat is called in front of Congress he should be in fear of his Job, including benefits and pension. Just maybe they won’t be so flippant and smug in the future.