January 7, 2023 - PBS News Weekend full episode
PBS NewsHourNov 27, 2022
The Facts
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives on Saturday — finally reaching the winning vote threshold after a record 15 rounds of voting, the longest vote since 1860.
Voting began Jan. 3, but many members of the Republican Freedom Caucus refused to vote for McCarthy without a series of concessions. On Friday there was a breakthrough as 14 votes flipped in his favor on the 12th ballot.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
Although McCarthy can celebrate finally being Speaker, the role has been gutted of most of its power, which he’s handed off to ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus members. Having repeatedly miscalculated the size of his own support, McCarthy now finds himself at the feet of radical Republicans.
Republican narrative
Passionate debate is the centerpiece of democracy, and that’s what Republicans were doing over the days it took to get McCarthy elected Speaker. Now that he has the gavel, McCarthy will continue to prove he’s a great unifier of his party, and Republicans will deliver on their promises, including plans to reduce spending, tackle illegal immigration and hold Democrats to account.
Pro-Trump narrative
As the Speaker vote dragged on, the mainstream media prematurely reported on former Pres. Donald Trump’s waning influence. Little did they know that Trump would reward McCarthy’s loyalty by making sure the new Speaker’s victory would be assured by convincing the last remaining holdouts to end their obstruction.
Cynical narrative
At the end of the day, Congress’ dysfunction will continue because of its members’ devotion to party over country. There was no better example of this than Democrats voting unanimously for a Speaker candidate who had no chance of winning. With the margins between the parties razor thin, only bipartisan cooperation will get anything passed, but it doesn’t look like the parties will be doing anything to help each other.
