At the time of publication, the United States House of Representatives was at a historic standstill in its process of choosing a Speaker for the 118th Congress — a quagmire that could lead to lawmakers delaying committee hearings.
Kevin McCarthy, California Representative, became effective January 4, 2012. lost After the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans gained majority control of the House in the fifth round of vote. This was the fifth round to determine the next Speaker. This marked a rare occurrence — only 15 times in the entire history of Congress since 1789 — when more than one round of voting was required to determine a Speaker, and there’s no end in sight.
The House cannot function without a Speaker who is elected by a majority of its members. New lawmakers cannot be sworn in, the House cannot adopt rules to determine how the chamber will run, and committee assignments and legislation won’t move forward. This happened nine times before the House elected a Speaker.
The House Financial Services Committee hosted a hearing on December 1st to investigate the collapse and possible causes of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. The committee’s jurisdiction includes economic stabilization as well as issues surrounding money and credit — likely contributing to its leadership introducing bills on crypto and the body conducting hearings related to digital asset regulation.
However, with no leadership elected to the House — the second in line of U.S. presidential succession, no less — efforts to address fraud allegations at FTX or move on legislation offering regulatory clarity for crypto firms may be delayed indefinitely. After five rounds of voting for a Speaker, Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries has consistently won 212 votes, while McCarthy’s total of 200-odd votes has failed to gain a majority among voting members of the House. About 19-20 Republicans voted in favor of Ohio Representative Jim Jordan and other candidates for each round.
In a sense, the Clerk of House of Representatives is the only official authorized to preside at the chamber without an elected Speaker. However, this will be unlikely to result in any policy decisions, as House Clerk Cheryl Johnson’s duties are mostly administrative. The whole situation is completely new and without precedent.
Related: 100 crypto lobbyists are ready for the fight to their lives when Congress resumes
Patrick McHenry is the new chair of the House Financial Services Committee. He stated in December that the committee planned to hold another hearing about the collapse of FTX sometime around 2023. The U.S. Senate was not overshadowed in the House’s divisions and began swearing-in lawmakers on January 3.