Primer: US Representatives

This week, Political Union is debating a resolution focused on representatives in the US House. The inexperienced Mike Johnson is the new Speaker of the House, a potential shutdown looms, and in general it is a divided federal government. These factors threaten the lower chamber’s ability to function, and Congresspeople are to blame. Or – maybe not! Below is the primer for the resolution: US Congresspeople have abandoned their duty to their constituents.

The pro argument is centered around the dysfunction characterizing Congress at the moment. It took four nominees for the Republican party to elect a new Speaker of the House after representatives ousted Kevin McCarthy for compromising with Democrats. In the middle of that chaos, the conference recessed for a break over the weekend. We are currently spiraling towards another shutdown battle, and government shutdowns are increasingly becoming normal in Washington. Literally ceasing the functions of government might be the most explicit way for Congresspeople to “abandon their duty.” The fight over the debt ceiling limit earlier in the year caused a drop in the US credit rating. There was also a movement among conservatives to overthrow the valid, correct, legal results of the 2020 election; they were ignoring the will of the people for their party’s gain. None of this is good governance. 

The con argument must acknowledge that the House has been mayhem lately, but Congresspeople aren’t to blame. The speaker debacle can be framed as hard-liners simply trying to gain influence within party leadership. Fighting for a stronger voice is exactly what we elect representatives to do for us. A similar argument can be made for government shutdowns and debt ceiling fights – Republicans aren’t abandoning their duty to constituents, they are just employing a tactic they believe will lead to less government spending, a platform they were elected on. Congresspeople haven’t abandoned their duty; they are playing their best hand with the rules in place, which unfortunately happens to result in some disorder. 

Come to Scott Hall, Room 201 next Monday October 30 for the debate!

"Speech by the NATO Secretary General at a Joint Meeting of the US House of Representatives and Senate" by NATO is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.