Speakership: Resolving The Logjam In US Congress And Lessons For Nigeria

After 15 rounds of voting, Rep Kevin McCarthy was on Saturday morning elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives in an election enmeshed with heated exchanges, which almost saw fellow Republicans exchange blows. The 15 rounds record surpassed the previous record of 1923, when nine rounds of voting were required. The next record to beat would be the 44 rounds of voting required in 1859.

McCarthy requires 218 votes to win a simple majority, therefore, could only afford to lose the support of four Republicans, if all 434 current members cast ballots.

While the election drama was ongoing I quickly pictured what would have happened if the Nigeria’s House of Representatives found itself in a similar situation. Then, I quickly remembered that Soeakership of the 7th, 8th and 9th House of Representatives were birthed under similar circumstances. However, there is a clear difference, the Republicans opposed to McCarthy’s election did not back candidate of the Democrats and the Democrats also refused to back  Republican candidate. Irrespective of the interests at stake, the lines of political ideology was maintained and this unfortunately is the vital ingredient that has been missing in Nigeria’s political system.

Here is a quick reminder. In 2011, the then ruling PDP presented Hon. Mulikat Akande-Adeola to become the speaker, but some party members in connivance with the then opposition elements led by the current Speaker, Femi Gbajabimila, worked to ensure emergence of another PDP member, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal. All the drama that ensued  and the cry of betrayal afterwards were for students of Nigeria’s political history to interrogate.

In 2015, it was time to pay Gbajabiamila back in his own coin, when the APC tipped him as the candidate for speaker, some of his partymen worked with the new opposition, the PDP, to ensure emergence of a ruling party rebel, Yakubu Dogara. That was the beginning of the cries of betrayal. By 2019, Gbajabimila, now a grandmaster of the game, was the choice of the party and also got support of key members of major opposition PDP in an unholy alliance to emerge Speaker.

These developments as narrated above portray why Nigerians are being robbed of the very essence and dividends of democracy. Policy decisions which affect the people negatively are enforced without an eyebrow from the opposition camp. One could even hardly notice if there is an opposition in the House or not. What a shame!

The competing factions in the US Congress have been described as “conservatives” (the far-right members opposed to Kevin McCarthy’s bid for Speaker of the House) and “moderates” (the much larger faction of Republicans loyal to him).

But these labels did not lead either factions to warm the bed of the opposition at the detriment of what their party stands for.

The House was at a standstill for a while with Republicans undecided. A faction of 20 conservatives, anti-establishment lawmakers, who said the California Rep hasn’t done enough to win their votes stood their ground but remained with the party until a compromise was reached.

McCarthy made concessions, agreed  to make it easier for lawmakers to potentially oust a speaker by granting a demand from his opponents that just five lawmakers from the majority party can force a no-confidence vote for the Speaker, yet, the 20 GOP members refused to bulge.

Just one vote short of becoming speaker of the House, McCarthy stood from his chair and walked down the center aisle to the back of the chamber. It was nearing midnight, and he had already lost 13 votes for speaker over four long days. The room fell almost silent as it became apparent that the GOP leader was now asking — begging, really — the bombastic, blustering, defiant Florida Rep, Matt Gaetz, to change his vote from “present” to “McCarthy.”

Gaetz, who had hurled personal insults at McCarthy just hours earlier on the House floor, said no.

McCarthy slowly walked back down the aisle, alone, head tilted to the ground. But he turned back around when he heard a scuffle behind him. Alabama Rep, Mike Rogers, a Republican ally of McCarthy, had angrily confronted Gaetz, telling him he would regret his decision. Lawmakers on the floor yelled in disbelief as Rogers was held back by a colleague.

He lost the 14th vote. Allies moved to abruptly adjourn the House, their hope-for-unity seemingly coming apart.

Then tempers cooled. And within the hour, McCarthy and his allies had persuaded his other remaining opponents to vote “present” as well, lowering the vote total necessary for McCarthy to win and handing him the speakership by early Saturday morning — after a historic, remarkable and somewhat astonishing week of repeated votes.

“I hope one thing is clear,” McCarthy said when he finally took the gavel after 1 a.m. “I never give up.”