INSURRECTION: Democrats Usurp Control of Pennsylvania House Despite GOP Holding the Majority (thegatewaypundit.com) “Today’s illegitimate power grab by Rep. McClinton, who was sworn-in without notice and in complete secret, is a paperwork insurrection typical of a Democratic Party that is constantly displaying that their last two years of rhetoric on respect for institutions has been nothing but crocodile tears.” It was a very close election. Democrats (officially) won the election in the House by a slim margin, but before they could be seated, one of the Democrat representatives died and two more resigned, leaving Republicans with the slim majority. Democrats think they should get to appoint the Speaker of the House, since they officially won the election, but Republicans point to the technicalities in the law, that Democrats do not hold an actual majority in the House now, and furthermore also claim fraud was used in some of the elections, so they should have the majority. It is possible for a Speaker of the House to be politically neutral, but it is also easy for that position to be politically weaponized, and the Speaker can have a lot of influence (deciding who gets to speak and what proposed laws come up for a vote). The Speaker is an important role because sometimes all members of a Party might not vote exactly the same on some bill) related thread about historical Constitutional crisis in another state: When Georgia had a Constitutional problem, 3 different people claiming to be governor
The Republican party here in PA would have done the exact same thing if positions were reversed. Nobody should be elected speaker from either party until all three seats have been filled. The people elected Democrats for those three seats that are in question. The people spoke and those were the results. Those seats should be filled via special election or by appointment. If elections to fill them are held and Republicans pick up one or more of the seats, then a Republican speaker can take power.
Someone has to take the seat until those seats are filled otherwise nothing can be done. And while that might appeal to some people (nothing getting done) someone still has to be in charge in case of an emergency. An interim speaker should be appointed. Since currently Republican's have the majority in the PA house then they should be picking the Speaker. Once those seats are filled then, depending on the result, a new speaker can be appointed. It's simple logic. And, I believe, is how the rules are. Should we just discard the rules because one person dies and the other two voluntarily resigned?
I'm okay with that outcome. As long as it's not permanent and new elections are held to fill the seats and the speakership adjusted if those results change things.
