Massachusetts lawmakers react after McCarthy officially secures House speakership

After 15 rounds of voting and dramatic events on the House of Representatives floor, Kevin McCarthy is officially the speaker of the house. Tense negotiations occurred for days with a small group of far-right conservative lawmakers. McCarthy, a California Republican, finally secured the speakership with a 15th round of balloting late Friday night.

Back in Massachusetts, lawmakers reacted to the lengthy back-and-forth between House Republicans with disdain.

"The inmates are running the asylum," said Representative Jake Auchincloss. "It's worth drawing some contrast here. Two years ago ... House Democrats fought off an insurrection, ensured the peaceful transfer of power, and then went on to finally get an infrastructure law passed ... Now, Kevin McCarthy in the House GOP takeover — they have the exact same margins that we had, and they proceeded to fight each other for a week. So it's an inauspicious beginning for their ability to govern as a party."

Massachusetts Representatives Katherine Clark and Jim McGovern aired their frustrations with the House controversy on Twitter.

Clark went on to write, "Now, as we turn the page to a new Congress, the [Republican Conference in the U.S. House of Representatives] is doubling down on their commitment to extremism, proposing an agenda that eliminates reproductive freedom, undermines our planet, and strips health care from millions of Americans."

McGovern chided the GOP, stating that House Democrats were ready to work. Because of the delay with the speaker appointment, members of the House could not begin legislation and were in a state of limbo.

Auchincloss said he worries about more stand-stills and work not getting done with the new Republican majority in the House.

"[One] rule allows legislators to zero out the salaries of individual civil servants within the executive branch," said Auchincloss. "That means that a scientific expert, a national security expert, comes to Congress, testifies, tells truth to power. Republicans don't like what they hear? They can go into the budget and excise that individual salary. That is not how a free and open democracy should function. That concerns me."

"But broadly speaking," Auchincloss continued, "the totality of what these rules do is they empower the fringes. That's what they do. They really eviscerate the power of the gavel and instead allow individual House GOP members to gridlock Congress over individual issues. And with 435 cats and dogs in the House of Representatives, it's just a recipe to get nothing done."