New House GOP majority PASSES rules package with only one Republican defection

The House of Representatives passed a package of rules Monday night 220-213 with relatively little drama as the first order of business for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s new majority.

The 55-page package includes some, but not all, of the concessions McCarthy made to the caucus of 20 House Republicans to get his presidential bid across the line Saturday morning and after 15 floor votes. .

It includes the motion to vacate provision, which allows only one member to make a motion to remove the speaker of the House, one of the main conservative demands.

It also eliminates proxy voting and virtual participation in congressional committee meetings, which Democrats implemented to deal with the spread of COVID in the Capitol complex.

Rep. Tony Gonzales, Republican of Texas, was the only one to vote ‘no’ on the rules package Monday night. Another Texas Republican, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, did not vote

“For too long, the House has allowed members to do their jobs from home without ever setting foot in Washington,” Republican Rep. Tom Cole said on the House floor.

Cole will take over as chair of the powerful House Rules Committee and went through some of the changes included in the rules package on the House floor before voting began Monday night.

He noted that with Republicans assuming leadership of the committee, the select committee that had been investigating the COVID-19 pandemic would refocus and focus on investigating the origins of COVID and how the shutdowns negatively affected the country.

House Republicans are also creating a select committee on competition in China, he said. They will also investigate the so-called ‘weaponization’ of the Justice Department.

The new rules included a number of provisions in line with fiscal conservatism.

Instead of what the Democrats called ‘PAYGO’ (pay as you go), which required legislation that would increase the deficit with tax increases or spending cuts, the Republicans are instituting ‘CUTGO’, which means that only cuts of spending may offset mandatory spending increases.

House Republicans doubled down on not raising taxes by including in the rule package a three-fifths body threshold for implementing any new tax increases.

The Republicans were also suspending the so-called ‘Gephardt Rule’, which automatically raised the debt ceiling when a budget was passed.

They brought back the so-called “Holman Rule,” which allows Congress to modify a spending bill by cutting programs, firing federal employees, or reducing their salaries.

All 212 Democrats voted against the rule package.

Only one Republican, moderate Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, voted against it.

His fellow Texan, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, did not vote.

Moderate Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina ended up voting for the package after initially saying she was undecided.

The leader of the House Progressive Caucus, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, called it a “package of rules for MAGA extremists,” in a speech on the floor.

Monday marked the first day of the House session after the dramatic showdown Friday night and Saturday morning that finally allowed McCarthy to capture the presidency.

The House is also voting on an IRS bill that cuts money to hire more staff.

It took McCarthy 15 rounds of voting to finally become president last week.