Republicans are widely expected to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives next year, but their ability to get anything done legislatively will likely be stymied by Democrats’ control of the Senate and the internal struggle that continues to play out between MAGA and moderate Republicans.
Republicans have already introduced articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden for allegedly allowing undocumented migrants into the country. Others on the GOP to-impeach list include Vice President Kamala Harris, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Secretary of State Tony Blinken, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
There will also likely be a renewed push from Rep. James Comer (R-KY), who is poised to chair the House Oversight Committee, to investigate the finances of Hunter Biden, the president’s adult son.
On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) won the nod from his party to be its leader next year, but he failed to get a unanimous victory, meaning that he will likely have to make major concessions to a group of far-right Republicans who call themselves the Freedom Caucus in order to win a January election to become Speaker of the House.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) who has signaled that SNAP benefits may be threatened for millions of people, is likely to chair the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) will likely win his bid for House Majority Leader.
As TYT pointed out on the policy front, Republicans released a vague “Commitment to America” agenda promising a strong economy, a safe nation, a future built on “freedom,” and an accountable government.
The few specifics laid out by the plan includes increasing fossil fuel mining and drilling on U.S. land and in U.S. waters, making it easier for energy companies to build facilities over community opposition, undermining public education by funneling (more) tax dollars to religious and for-profit schools, discriminating against transgender student athletes, restricting access to abortion, promoting the right to faith-based discrimination, increasing access to guns, and restricting the right to vote through requirements and intimidation.
Even though Republicans have their agenda, Michael Thorning, director of the Structural Democracy Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center told TYT that Republicans will be under less pressure to pass landmark legislation given their position. Thorning says, “They will have some policy priorities they will try to act on, but I expect certainly they are going to favor serving as a check on the Biden administration.”
Some of those priorities, according to Thorning, include conducting high-profile investigations into areas like immigration and border policy, China, and the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Thorning says those could be unifying issues for the GOP and the findings from any such investigations could lead to some kind of proposed legislation, even if it would not pass the Senate or be signed by Biden.
In an interview, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) told TYT that he doesn’t think Republicans “will be able to get anything substantive on their agenda through.”
Despite Republicans’ overwhelming interest in areas that are unlikely to receive bipartisan support, there may be a few issues where some common ground between the two major parties could be found, Thorning said. Among them, increasing regulations on technology and cryptocurrency companies.
TYT Washington Correspondent Candice Cole was previously a correspondent and senior White House producer for the Black News Channel and has worked at a number of local news outlets. You can find her on Twitter @CandiceColeNews.