Speaker Vote Delay Showcases the Partisan Problem With the U.S.

The way the U.S. government works is often a complete mystery to the average citizen, and rightfully so. The numerous operations the various bodies go through every single day are each individually extremely complex and can take anywhere from days to months. One such process occured just earlier this week in Washington D.C. itself, that being the vote to decide who will become the next Speaker of the House. 

The Speaker role itself has several roles to play within House discussions. Notably, it regulates debate on the House floor. This is important for several reasons, one of which is that it can often give advantages to legislations that the Speaker, and consequently, the party to which they belong, favor, and can disadvantage lesgislations that they disagree with. The Speaker oftentimes has an immense amount of influence on the changes made to the country during their term, and it is for this reason that it is important that the other members of the House elect a decent, well-rounded politician who can step up and change this country for the better. It is for this reason that the recent events occurring between the members of this important legislative body are extremely notable and serve as a warning to those interested in U.S. politics. 

With the election of several new members to the house, leadership has changed within the chamber, from having a majority-democrat house to a republican-majority. This is important for several reasons, but the most notable is that unless of an extenuating circumstance, the Speaker will be a Republican member of the house. 

Although the House has finally approved Kevin McCarthy as Speaker, ending the distressing power vacuum that worried political analyists all over the country, this episode in American politics has still proved as a reminder to the American people that partisanship is in direct conflict with democracy. Even within their own party, politicians could not agree on something which has historically only taken place 14 other times. This simple incident proves that in order for America to thrive as a nation, we must work together as Americans in order to get the legislation we want passed. This country is falling apart because citizens cannot see each other beyond political ideologies, even when they belong to the same political party, as illustrated by this incident.  

The political vacuum this created briefly was disasterous, and if it continued the way it was, the consequences would be immense, since no house members could be sworn in until there is a Speaker elected, per the Constitution. This would be awful, due to the fact that laws could not be made and the country would effectively be out of commission. 

The fact that the leaders of this country let the infrastructure in place even come close to failing is a travesty. It demonstrates that this country is in dire straits at the moment, that the citizens are begging for a chance to change this country.