The Uniparty Conspiracy: How it Paralyzed the House

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The House speaker predicament for Republicans persisted on Tuesday, aided by former President Donald Trump.

Another House Republican lawmaker, Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, who was chosen as the party's nominee, failed to secure the support of the majority of Republicans. He withdrew from the race on Tuesday, leaving Republicans once again starting from scratch.

Emmer, who advocates for military aid to Ukraine and voted to certify the 2020 election, experienced a peculiar turn of events that led to his diminishing prospects shortly after being selected.

Trump opposed Emmer through a social media post, which coincided with Emmer's attempts to persuade a small group of skeptics on Capitol Hill. This occurred while Trump was in a New York courtroom, facing accusations of civil fraud. Trump later expressed his belief to reporters outside the courtroom that Emmer's chances seemed bleak.

Having experienced the dismissal of one speaker and witnessing the failure of three candidates who garnered majority but not unanimous support, the current state demonstrates an inability to unify the limited House majority. The notion of seeking assistance from Democrats is currently inconceivable to both Republicans and Democrats alike.

A picture of parties divided

Its a situation that highlights not only Republican divisions, but also the bright line between Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill.

But its important to note that it was born of a fringe protest meant to demonstrate theres no difference at all between the two parties.

What is uniparty?

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Steve Bannon, the ex-Trump White House official turned podcaster, has long been fond of the term "uniparty." He has consistently used this term along with the notion of Washington as a corrupt swamp in need of cleansing, or the existence of a deep state that requires eradication.

Bannon's objective is to garner backing for the dismantling of the current iteration of the United States government.

The term also features prominently in the more-conservative-than-Fox-News media environment - networks like One America News, known as OAN, and Salem Radio.

Guerilla war

"In the September interview on the right-wing Salem News Channel, Representative Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican, expressed his belief that we are currently being governed by a uniparty. Gaetz argued that then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy was colluding with President Joe Biden and Democratic leader Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York. Gaetz further stated that there is a small group of House conservatives who are engaging in a political guerrilla war against this uniparty. In fact, in early October, it was Gaetz who successfully led the effort to remove McCarthy from the speakership."

The parties actually have very different priorities

The recent increase in government spending cannot be denied, and it is indeed justifiable to argue that it is spiraling out of control. However, attributing it solely to a perceived "uniparty" is an overly simplistic and nonsensical notion.

Republicans, under Trump's leadership, successfully enacted a tax cut bill independently, while Democrats, led by Biden, achieved the passage of a spending bill without relying on Republican support. The challenge of reforming expensive programs lies in the infrequent collaboration between the two parties, rather than any concealed collusion.

If there is a uniparty, where is its speaker?

Multiple Republicans who supported McCarthy have argued Democrats are to blame for the current lack of a speaker because they did not break party ranks and support McCarthy.

There has been minimal progress towards appointing a unified speaker, making it increasingly difficult to envision a Republican candidate securing enough support to become speaker without aid from a few Democrats.

According to the current calculations, a Republican speaker would require the assistance of Democratic colleagues if they were to lose the backing of more than four fellow party members.

Next funding deadline is November 17

Another lawmaker who voted to oust McCarthy is Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, who argued back in September that allowing the government to run out of money would not be that bad.

Biggs stated on social media in September that we should not be frightened by the DC uniparty, as they try to make us believe that a government shutdown is catastrophic. This perspective may gain more prominence when the government encounters a funding lapse on November 17.

Last month, CNN highlighted the potential impact of a government shutdown on Americans, as the government faced a funding lapse. Therefore, any potential speaker needs to secure the support of individuals like Gaetz and devise a funding strategy for the government within a tight timeframe of just over three weeks.

Emmer's downfall serves as another cautionary tale. The majority of House Republicans supported Emmer, their fourth choice for speaker this year, through secret ballot voting and a roll call vote conducted in private.

While Emmer was trying to persuade those who were unsure, Trump's social media account posted opposition to him. Among the fringe members of the party, Emmer is criticized for being in favor of providing additional funding to Ukraine to resist Russia's invasion. Those who believe in a conspiracy of unified political interests view foreign aid as a prime target.

A quarter of Americans dont feel represented by any party

Politico noted back in 2017 that the term has roots on the American left, in the rhetoric of Ralph Nader, the consumer advocate turned Green Party presidential candidate.

Although there is limited data on the concept of a uniparty, extensive polling has been conducted on the two major political parties.

According to a September survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, only 10% of Americans believe that there is "hardly any" difference between the parties. Interestingly, a significant portion of the population (25%) feels that neither party adequately represents their interests. It is worth noting that this sentiment is equally shared among Republicans and Democrats.

A notable fact is that approximately 25% of Republican and Republican-leaning voters, as well as Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, feel that their parties do not adequately represent them. Surprisingly, even though some Republicans complain about a dominant party, they are less inclined than Democrats to desire additional options within their party, as indicated by the Pew survey.