Last Updated on December 21, 2022
Rep. Mo Brooks threw his support behind the House Freedom Caucus members who are demanding Kevin McCarthy vow to abandon rule changes adopted by Speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2015.
Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) praised the efforts of House Freedom Caucus members to pressure Rep. Kevin McCarthy into restoring the “motion to vacate the chair” rule and readjust the committee assignment process.
“I applaud the efforts of those HFC [House Freedom Caucus] members who have tried to change the rules so that the public’s interest will carry more weight in what is now a very corrupt deliberative process in the House of Reps,” Rep. Brooks told National File in an exclusive interview.
Brooks went on to slam the process in which committee chairmanships and memberships are established and called it the reason the House of Representatives is “a corrupt body regardless of which body is in control.”
“The House of Reps. is a corrupt body regardless of which party is in control bc committee chairmanships and sometimes even committee memberships are sold for exorbitant sums of money. If you don’t commit at least $1 million dollars to purchase a chairmanship of a committee, then you’re not even considered for that position, regardless of your merit,” Brooks explained to National File.
“The rules MUST be changed, or else the special interests which provide the money used to purchase these powerful positions will continue to be at the top of the totem poll while public interest will continue to be at the bottom,” Brooks added.
Certain courageous House Republicans have refused to support Kevin McCarthy’s Speakership bid due to his refusal to change rules within the House.
When Nancy Pelosi took over the Speaker in 2015, she got rid of the 200-year-old rule which gave the House the ability to make a “motion to vacate the chair” of the Speaker. This enabled Pelosi to hold unlimited, unchecked power over the House and stifled the ability of the House to keep Pelosi accountable of the people’s interests.
Kevin McCarthy has made it known he has no intention of restoring the “motion to vacate” rule amongst other requests the House Freedom Caucus made in November regarding the restoration of “regular order.”
National File previously reported on a HFC memorandum which calls on McCarthy to restore “regular order”:
McCarthy is also being called to the carpet over his apparent unwillingness to commit to returning the House to what is known as “regular order,” which refers to a more ground-up, inclusive legislative process, characterized by a more grassroots approach typical of the “people’s house.”
In recent years, Republican and Democrat legislative leaders have held the legislative process tightly, refusing to include members who are not in leadership.
Kevin McCarthy has demonstrated an unwillingness to proceed with the impeachment of President Joe Biden, has refused to stipulate to a return to ‘regular order’, and has shown hesitance to include the Motion to Vacate the Chair in the new Rules Package, in addition to many other failures of leadership.
The full HFC memorandum can be read here.
Stay tuned to National File for any developments surrounding the Speaker race.
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