Within the House, the lack of a speaker has prevented the chamber from voting on a rules package governing the new Congress. The stalemate has stopped Republicans from installing their committee chairs or starting work on the panels.
If the House does not pass rules by Jan. 13, committee staff could start to lose pay, according to guidance sent to those panels reported by Politico.
The delays could also disrupt student loan forgiveness programs for House employees, the report said.
Lawmakers causing the chaos may not share in their staff’s pain. The pay period for House members typically begins Jan. 3, even if the new Congress starts later.
Democrats also emphasized that the absence of a speaker was threatening U.S. national security by keeping members of Congress from accessing classified intelligence that is only available to lawmakers after they have taken the oath of office, which none of them can take without a speaker.
Without committee chairs, they also cannot hold hearings; investigations underway in the last Congress come to a standstill. The debacle has delayed promised GOP-led committee probes into the Biden administration, which appear likely to dominate the early days of the new divided government.
In making their case to elect McCarthy and end the logjam, three likely incoming GOP committee chairs argued the delay has hampered their ability to protect national security and oversee the Biden administration.
“The Biden administration is going unchecked and there is no oversight of the White House, State Department, Department of Defense, or the intelligence community. We cannot let personal politics place the safety and security of the United States at risk,” Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas; Mike Rogers, R-Ala.; and Mike Turner, R-Ohio said in a statement Thursday. The lawmakers are in line to lead the House Foreign Affairs, Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, respectively.
Congress has already passed legislation funding the government through Sept. 30, at least removing the threat of a shutdown that could have displaced federal workers and disrupted government functions early this year.
— CNBC’s Chelsey Cox and Christina Wilkie contributed to this article.
Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/05/house-speaker-election-heres-how-the-debacle-is-paralyzing-the-us-congress-.html