We could find out as early as today who will be the next Speaker of the House, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. As expected, Republicans have whittled it down to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisianna, or Jim Jordan of Ohio to succeed the ousted Kevin McCarthy in the chamber’s top spot.
The problem that did get exacerbated during yesterday’s proceedings is that the Republican Party is divided between hard-liners who are looking to run the show with the “our way or the highway” mentality, and more moderate Republicans who know that to get anything done in this Congress, they are going to need to have a consensus with the Democrats across the aisle. This is the same glaring split between Republicans in the Presidential campaigns as well.
All of that aside, the people are the ones that are caught in the crossfire of the ongoing battle between the left and the right, and the new Civil War in the GOP. The budget bill has a deadline of November 17th, and the Farm Bill has already expired, but it is funded with the rest of the government through the November Deadline.
Ted McKinney is CEO of the Nation Association of State Departments of Agriculture. He says this situation is unfortunate, to say the least.
McKinney says he is hopeful that Farm Bill discussions can start in earnest after the Speaker drama is finished.
McKinney thinks that Republicans will lay down their arms long enough to get important bills, including the Farm Bill, across the finish line before ending their cease-fire.
However, this is all hanging on the hope that the House can get vote in a new Speaker without the drama we saw earlier in the year when former Speaker McCarthy was trying to get appointed.
