The 118th Congress

This week, Members-elect for the 118th Congress gathered to elect a Speaker, be sworn in, and start legislative business. While nominating Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday, Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH) said, “We have a border that is no longer a border, we have a military that can’t meet its recruitment goals, we have bad energy policy, bad education policy, record spending, record inflation, record debt and a government that has been weaponized against we the people.” After 15 separate votes, the House of Representatives elected Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to be Speaker of the House and Members were sworn in at 1:40 a.m.

On Monday, Republicans will enact fundamental changes to House Rules to improve the manner in which Congress functions. The package will include the following reforms:

Requires the text of all legislation be made available to every Member at least 72 hours prior to a vote in the House.
Ensures that bills coming to the floor follow new single-subject and germaneness rules and protocols to protect Members from being forced to vote on bloated legislative vehicles.
Ends proxy voting in the House and remote proceedings in committees.
Prohibits legislation from coming to the floor that has the net effect of increasing mandatory spending within a five- or ten-year budget window without equal or greater spending reductions.
Restores fiscal accountability by eliminating the Gephardt Rule that allowed for an automatic suspension of the debt ceiling upon adoption of a budget resolution.
Restores the Holman Rule that adds another layer of accountability for the federal bureaucracy by allowing amendments that reduce the salary of specific federal employees or programs.
Requires a three-fifths majority vote in the House on any legislation that increases tax rates.
Establishes a Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
Establishes a Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
Modifies the directive of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic to focus its work on COVID origins, the federal government’s role in gain-of-function research in China, and other consequential matters related to the pandemic.

I am excited to support the many reforms that will help reduce spending and bring more transparency to the process. In addition, we will begin work immediately to pass legislation to fulfill our Commitment to America. I am honored to continue to represent you and the First District of Arkansas in the House of Representatives.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Arkansas lawmakers stand by McCarthy in contested speaker race

Rick Crawford of Jonesboro spoke to several holdouts in hopes of changing their minds, albeit with no success.

"As individuals, they're not bad people. I think there may be a lot of misplaced hostility here," he said Wednesday afternoon. "There's certainly no reason to target Kevin McCarthy."

POLITICO

The new, divided Congress

Crawford said one of his prime priorities for the upcoming farm bill talks, which will start this month in the House and heat up in the coming months across Capitol Hill, is to update the Price Loss Coverage program that acts as part of the farm safety net. The big problem according to Crawford: it’s still operating under 2012 data and wasn’t designed to account for inflation.

Crawford reiterated that House Republicans will likely focus their push to reform federal food assistance programs around efforts to beef up work requirements for able-bodied, working-age adults, while winding down pandemic-era emergency assistance.

Crawford also said he expects House Ag Republicans to make increasing oversight of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other nutrition programs a general priority in the next Congress.