After Trump\u2019s pick for speaker narrowly won, what sway will the former president hold over Congress\u2019s Republican majority?
\nLike an exhausted marathon runner, Kevin McCarthy had just about staggered across the finish line. But even at 2.11am, with tempers frayed and eyes bleary, the newly elected speaker of the US\u00a0House of Representatives\u00a0wanted to single out one person for praise.
\n\u201cI do want to especially thank President Trump,\u201d\u00a0McCarthy told reporters\u00a0after prevailing in the longest election for speaker since before the civil war. \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone should doubt his influence. He was with me from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n
The gushing tribute obscured the complexity of Donald Trump\u2019s intervention in the election for speaker \u2013 and what sway he might hold over the narrow Republican majority in the new Congress.
\nThe week that followed brought a series of extremist actions and appointments that appear designed to resonate with his rightwing base. But whether House Republicans\u2019 agenda will ultimately complement or conflict with Trump\u2019s 2024 presidential election campaign remains uncertain.
\nMcCarthy\u2019s\u00a0election as speaker\u00a0took four gruelling days, 15 roll call votes and concessions that he might come to regret. Trump\u2019s endorsement appeared impotent for much of that time, even among some of the former president\u2019s champions in Congress. As he made calls in the dying hours of Friday night, a memorable photo showed Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene attempting to give her phone, with \u201cDT\u201d on the line, to colleague Matt Rosendale, only for him to wave it away.
\nBut in the end,\u00a0Trump\u2019s man won\u00a0\u2013 a sign that he remains important if not decisive. McCarthy duly felt obliged to heap praise on the kingmaker. He also made a somewhat optimistic claim: \u201cThis is the great part: because it took this long, now we learned how to govern.\u201d
\nThat was immediately put to the test. On Monday evening, Republicans passed legislation to cut funding that was intended to bolster the Internal Revenue Service\u00a0on a party-line vote. The speaker proclaimed: \u201cPromises made. Promises kept.\u201d Democrats called it a deficit-raising windfall for wealthy tax cheats at the expense of the majority that has no chance of passing in a Senate they still control.
\nOn Tuesday, Republicans\u00a0formed a panel\u00a0to tackle what they perceive as rampant abuse of power in the federal government, not least by law enforcement agencies investigating Trump\u2019s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results and handling and storing of presidential records at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
\nThe subcommittee focusing on \u201cthe weaponization of the federal government\u201d falls under the judiciary committee, headed by Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, who has repeatedly said Trump should become president again. It will have access to classified information, a privilege usually reserved for the intelligence committees in the House and Senate.<\/p>\n