Here’s how the debacle is paralyzing the U.S. Congress

In her prayer pleading for an end to the “imbroglio of indecision” roiling the House of Representatives, the chamber’s chaplain sounded an alarm Thursday concerning the risk to the U.S. of not electing a speaker during a historic standoff that has effectively paralyzed the legislative branch of presidency.

“Watch over the seeming discontinuity of our governance, and the perceived vulnerability of our national security. Construct your hedge of protection against those that would benefit from our discord for their very own gain,” said House Chaplain Margaret Kibben as she opened a 3rd day of voting to elect the highest official within the House.

Kibben wasn’t the just one anxious about how the federal government would function after the brand new Republican majority did not elect a House speaker throughout the first two days of the 118th Congress. As GOP leader Kevin McCarthy enters Thursday showing few signs of breaking an impasse with hardline conservative holdouts, it could take days more to fill the highest House post.

The once-in-a-century stalemate has frozen governance in considered one of the 2 chambers of Congress. The longer the infighting prevents the election of a speaker, the more havoc it is going to wreak on the federal government.

While the dearth of a speaker doesn’t pose an imminent threat to the U.S. economy, it paralyzes all motion on the Hill. That may very well be especially detrimental if the nation were to face a significant catastrophe that needed quick congressional votes or approval on emergency spending, because it did within the Sept. eleventh attacks or during Covid.

As of Thursday, the chamber couldn’t pass laws or reply to a national emergency. Representatives-elect had not taken office, because the speaker swears them in after the election.

Representatives-elect across the country cannot provide formal services for constituents. Those include help with receiving federal advantages or recovering missing payments from the federal government.

“We cannot organize our district offices, get our latest members doing that political work of our constituent services, helping serve the individuals who sent us here on their behalf,” incoming Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., told reporters within the Capitol Thursday morning.

Throughout the House, the dearth of a speaker has prevented the chamber from voting on a rules package governing the brand new Congress. The stalemate has stopped Republicans from installing their committee chairs or starting work on the panels.

If the House doesn’t pass rules by Jan. 13, committee staff could begin to lose pay, in response 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 of their staff’s pain. The pay period for House members typically begins Jan. 3, even when the brand 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 simply available to lawmakers after they’ve taken the oath of office, which none of them can take with no speaker.

Without committee chairs, additionally they cannot hold hearings; investigations underway within the last Congress come to a standstill. The debacle has delayed promised GOP-led committee probes into the Biden administration, which appear prone to dominate the early days of the brand 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 guard national security and oversee the Biden administration.

“The Biden administration goes unchecked and there isn’t a oversight of the White House, State Department, Department of Defense, or the intelligence community. We cannot let personal politics place the security and security of america in danger,” Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas; Mike Rogers, R-Ala.; and Mike Turner, R-Ohio said in an announcement Thursday. The lawmakers are in line to steer the House Foreign Affairs, Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, respectively.

Congress has already passed laws funding the federal government through Sept. 30, a minimum of removing the specter of a shutdown that would have displaced federal staff and disrupted government functions early this 12 months.

— CNBC’s Chelsey Cox and Christina Wilkie contributed to this text.