Maryland's Andy Harris explains House speaker saga role: 'Congress is going to work better'

The United States House of Representatives is known as “The People’s House,” but because of an intraparty spat over who should be the next speaker of the House, the people’s business was delayed three days before California Republican Kevin McCarthy was ultimately chosen on the 15th ballot.

Maryland Republican Rep. Andy Harris, whose 1st District covers the Eastern Shore, Harford County and a portion of Baltimore County, was a key vote in the process.

Harris voted 12 times this week for a House Speaker other than McCarthy before changing his vote to McCarthy on the 13th vote on Friday afternoon. His votes for others than McCarthy contributed to the lack of a majority and a delayed start to the Congress, marking the first occasion for multiple votes in 100 years. After 14 votes for Speaker of the House, no individual had the required votes necessary for the position.

"Our federal government is alive and well," said Harris, speaking in a phone interview on Jan. 6, 2023, in between the 13th and 14th votes for Speaker of the House. The scene that unfolded on the House floor on Friday night after the interview was muddled and chaotic though as members clamored to cast their votes to adjourn at around midnight after McCarthy again fell short on a 14th ballot. Ultimately, the House selected McCarthy as Speaker, but not before the power of the position was substantially weakened.

Harris said that his holdout will improve the legislative process.

"With some of the actions we're going to take in this agreement, I think Congress is going to work better," Harris said. He cited process issues like each member having the ability for input on a bill and a requirement for legislation to have a single subject without unrelated amendments as reasons for his holdout.

He also acknowledged a decline in the power of the Speaker and the new challenges that could create.

"After the changes are put in place, the Speaker is not as powerful," said Harris, "of course, it makes the Speaker's job more difficult."

Now that is a speaker is selected, members are able sworn in and the people's business can proceed.

How Andy Harris voted in multiple rounds

On Friday, on the 12th vote, Harris voted for Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, as McCarthy neared but didn't quite reach the total needed. In the 13th vote, Harris switched his choice and voted for McCarthy for the first time. McCarthy still lacked the necessary votes after the 13th ballot. Harris voted for McCarthy on the 14th and the final ballot, the 15th.

On Tuesday, the day Congress was scheduled to start, Harris voted for former New York Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin for House speaker despite Zeldin’s departure from the body after a loss in New York’s gubernatorial race. McCarthy had failed to prevail and become the new House speaker in 11 rounds of voting through Thursday evening.

The less than two dozen Republican defector votes, including Harris’, prevented any individual from receiving the required 218 votes necessary for the start of the session. All Democrats voted for New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-8th, who received 212 votes.

On Tuesday, Harris voted twice for Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan despite Jordan’s backing of the consensus Republican candidate, McCarthy, who had received about 200 votes in early rounds.

On Wednesday, after Harris voted three times for Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, there was still no speaker. Twenty-one Republicans, including Arizona’s Paul Gosar, Colorado’s Lauren Boebert and Virginia’s Bob Good, did not vote for McCarthy, who has been the party’s minority leader the last four years. On Thursday, Harris again voted three times for Donalds before voting for Oklahoma Republican Kevin Hern in the 10th and 11th ballots.

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This article was updated at 12:35 pm to reflect Harris' most recent vote.

Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Maryland's Andy Harris explains House speaker saga role