House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, appeared with the Republican leadership, at a news conference in June at the US Capitol.
Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images
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Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, appeared with the Republican leadership, at a news conference in June at the US Capitol.
Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy laid out the legislative route Republicans will follow if they win a majority in the midterms this year.
The “”Commitment to America“comprises of four major pillars focused on economy, safety, individual freedom, and government accountability. Big on ideas (“expansion of US manufacturing”) but short on costs specific policy details, the agenda is in line with the tradition established in 1994 with Representative Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America”, where minority parties put their agenda priorities ahead of Election day.
Gingrich met privately with House Republicans today on Capitol Hill as lawmakers were briefed on the agenda ahead of its release.
House Republicans will travel to suburban Pittsburgh on Friday for an agenda-setting event when the 2022 campaign ends in about seven weeks. While the GOP’s early 2022 electoral strength has tightened in the polls in recent months, the party is still favored to win at least a narrow majority in November and McCarthy is ready to be the speaker if the party successful.
The agenda is the product of months of deliberation from rank and file Republicans
Much of the agenda rests on traditional conservative fundamentalism – advocating tax cuts and cutting government spending – but also considers some divisive cultural issues. For example, Republicans pledged to support legislation to ensure “only women can compete in women’s sports” – which would seek to ban transgender women from competing on women’s sports teams. Republicans also pledged to push for federal legislation restricting access to abortion, promising to “protect the lives of unborn children and their mothers.” The agenda also signaled opposition to any legislation to restrict gun rights, pledging to “protect” the Second Amendment.
Republican legislative ambitions in the House will be undermined by a divided government; no matter what happens to Senate control, President Biden is unlikely to support much if any partisan GOP agenda. But the majority will give Republicans oversight and investigative powers over the administration, and they plan to use it.
Republicans will “conduct rigorous surveillance” and “require the White House to respond to its incompetence at home and abroad,” with plans to hold hearings on: the origins of the coronavirus pandemic , the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Justice Department investigation into former President Donald Trump and alleged illegal possession of classified documents at his Florida estate.
Pelosi insists Democrats will maintain majority
Henry Connelly, spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, ridicule Commitment to the United States is “doubled on a MAGA radical agenda.” Pelosi was optimistic that the Democrats would defy historical trends and hold on to their majority. In particular, Democrats believe that the Supreme Court’s decision to reverse federal access to abortion will spur competitive races in their favor. A pair of Democratic victories in special elections for the Houses of Representatives in New York and Alaska have left the party optimistic that a “red wave” is not on the horizon.
“We fully intend to hold the House of Commons,” she told reporters last week, “And although there are some of you who despise my political instincts and the rest of , I brought us here twice with the majority, and I have no intention of [give it up]. “
Republican leaders have also made it clear that they plan to run the House differently from Democrats, particularly by promising to end the approved remote proxy voting practice as a measure. emergency measures to deal with the pandemic.
“We’ve got a lot of votes, a large number of votes, where more than 100 members of Congress don’t even vote here in person, that will vary with the Republican majority in the House,” GOP Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., told reporters this week. Scalise intends to run for majority leader, a position that oversees the exchange’s schedule and operations, should Republicans gain control.
