Bruce’s Take
Since day one, House Republicans, under the leadership of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, remained dedicated to putting America on a better path forward. We made a commitment to America to deliver an economy that’s strong, a nation that’s safe, a future that’s built on freedom, and a government that’s accountable.
Since January, we’ve passed historic common-sense, conservative legislation to lower gas and utilities costs for hardworking Americans, reform permitting regulations for the first time in 40 years, give our troops their biggest pay raise in decades, fully fund veterans’ health care and benefits, terminate the COVID national emergency, block Biden’s WOTUS rule, and strengthen border security to combat illegal immigration and sex trafficking.
Unfortunately, we made history again this week. On Tuesday evening, 208 Democrats and 8 Republicans voted to remove Kevin Mccarthy as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. An action that had not been tried since 1910, and an action that will have profound impacts on the institution.
Prior to the vote, I spoke on the House Floor to my colleagues. I asked my colleagues to consider the ramifications of their actions if they voted for the motion to vacate. I asked two questions to those considering voting “yes”: would their vote make America better, and would it strengthen conservative policies? I told them that if they could not do that, then their vote was, at the very least, a disruptive overreaction, but in reality selfish, bad for conservative policies, and bad for America.
I had a straightforward request for those who voted yes: I asked them to come before the House and the American people and articulate their plan for how the House would move forward. Rather than finding the closest TV camera to express their grievances and wishes, or even fundraise off of their actions, I asked them to articulate their plan and convince the rest of House Republicans, who strongly disagreed with them, that their choice was the right one. I was very clear when I told them that if they could not do that, then their vote was, at the very least, a disruptive overreaction, selfish, bad for conservative policies, and bad for America. By the way, not a single one of the eight Republicans who voted yes has yet to articulate their plan.
On the surface, the motion to vacate was disruptive. Rather than continuing to debate and pass appropriations bills under regular order, we paralyzed ourselves with this vote, and Members went home for the week. At its core, the motion to vacate will alter the path of the U.S. House of Representatives for the foreseeable future. It has debilitated our ability to pass the remaining appropriations bills, fund our government, and restore fiscal sanity in our country.
The progress we were making to cut wasteful spending and secure the southern border came to a screeching halt. From here, House Republicans will have to regroup. It will take reconsidering the rules, lots of meetings, and a long process to elect a new Speaker before we can start to get back on track. Which will only eat up more time that we could be spending passing appropriations bills in regular order.
Until next week,
Bruce Westerman Arkansas' Fourth District