(CNN) — The failure of Republicans to choose a House Speaker on Tuesday following several rounds of voting not only denies the GOP a leader, but delays much of the House’s functioning.
Traditionally, the position is filled on the first day of session of a new Congress, followed by the swearing in of new members, but since the battle in plenary will continue on Wednesday, the elected members have yet to be sworn in.
The incoming legislators arrived at the courtroom on Tuesday along with their families, hoping to pose for a photo and begin their first day as lawmakers, but instead were met with a wait of several hours as the election for the speaker of the house went on. to multiple rounds of voting: the first time in 100 years.
Each new Congress must pass a new set of House rules, so without a president overseeing the adoption of those rules, technically none will exist.
Without a House Rules package approved by the end of business on January 13, committees will not be able to pay staff, according to a letter sent last week by the committee in charge of administrative affairs, which was first reported by Politico and obtained by CNN.
The same memo warned that student loan payments for commission staff will not be disbursed unless a package of rules is adopted by mid-January.
It’s just one of the many ways a battle for the next House speaker might paralyze the house and the Republican majority from operating efficiently in their early days with some of the toughest staff penalties. basic.
As for the commissions whose chairs are not known, they will be led in the interim by the most senior Republican on the commission who also served on the panel in the last Congress, according to the letter sent last week.
But without fully functioning committees to amend and pass bills before they reach the floor for a vote, there will be little to legislate. That means Republicans may also have to wait before tackling some of their most pressing priorities, including investigations into President Joe Biden’s administration and family.
CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf, Ali Zaslav, Ted Barrett, Melanie Zanona, Lauren Fox and Clare Foran contributed to this report.
