Republican Disarray On the House Speakership Nothing New

October 24, 2023

by Bill Hansmann American Thinker

The current kerfuffle in the Republican party’s attempt to select a Speaker of the House to replace Kevin McCarthy brings to mind the ascension and later resignation of Newt Gingrich as Speaker following the Republican Revolution vote of 1994.

In that election, thanks largely to Gingrich’s Contract With America, Republicans gained fifty-four seats to garner the majority in the House for the first time in forty years. Gingrich was mainly responsible for electing a sizable number of the new, young wave of House Republican conservatives. The Republicans elected Newt as the 50th House Speaker. He served four years as Speaker and, in my opinion, deserved to serve many more.

Things started well, and in the first hundred days, the Republican House acted on all the items in the Contract.