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Republicans battle in Congress before launching hostilities against Biden

2023-01-03T05:34:26.212Z


The Republicans take control of the US House of Representatives on Tuesday, where they must overcome dissension in their ranks around the election of their leader.


The Republicans take control of the US House of Representatives on Tuesday, ready to do battle with President Joe Biden, but must first overcome dissension within their ranks around the election of their leader.

The new members of Congress, elected during the November midterms, meet at 12:00 p.m. (17:00 GMT) to take the oath for two years.

For the first time since his inauguration, Joe Biden will have to deal with a divided Parliament: his Democratic party retained control of the Senate, but the Republican opposition won a very slim majority in the House of Representatives.

McCarthy weakened

"

Americans are ready for a turning point after two disastrous years under the leadership of the single Democratic party

", say the elected Republicans, who have promised to open a host of investigations into Joe Biden's management of the pandemic or the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.

But before launching such hostilities, they must agree to elect the speaker of the House of Representatives, which is by no means obvious, as the divisions within the party are strong.

The election of the "

Speaker

", the third most important figure in American politics after the president and the vice-president, will take place on Tuesday in the hemicycle, by a simple majority vote.

Seven years after his first attempt, Kevin McCarthy, who has led the Republican group in the lower house of Congress since 2014, hopes to get his revenge.

But the elected representative of California is weakened by the poor performance of the Republicans in the midterm elections, the "

giant wave

" predicted by the conservatives not having materialized.

Read also“Midterms”: Joe Biden welcomes the results

The party has only 222 seats and will need 218 votes to be elected.

However, a small group of elected officials very close to Donald Trump has indicated that he would set his conditions before supporting him.

They accuse him of not sufficiently defending the former president.

Three even publicly said they would vote against him.

"

Kevin doesn't believe in anything, he has no ideology

," tackled Matt Gaetz, a turbulent elected official from Florida.

Kevin McCarthy seems to want to give them pledges to prevent history from stuttering: in 2015, he had already narrowly failed to become Speaker of the House of Representatives in the face of a revolt from the right wing of the party.

But he also can't afford to go overboard and alienate moderate Republicans.

Although its room for maneuver is reduced, it does not currently have a credible competitor.

Only the name of group leader Steve Scalise circulates as a possible alternative without his chances seem serious.

Bargain ?

With the Republicans in the majority in the House, Joe Biden and the Democrats will therefore not be able to pass new major projects.

But with a Senate in the hands of the Democrats, neither will their rivals.

Will they entrench themselves in a systematic opposition?

This would require them to come together, while some of their elected officials - as during the vote on the budget before Christmas - voted with the Democrats.

The election of the “

speaker

” will therefore also be used to measure their capacity to harm the president.

Facing a hostile House could prove to be a political boon for Joe Biden, if he confirms his intention to run again in 2024 – a decision he is due to announce at the start of the year.

In the event of legislative paralysis, he will undoubtedly blame the blocking on weakened Republicans, hoping to turn the situation to his advantage.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2023-01-03

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