What have the House Speaker candidates done in Congress?
Our look at their laws, bills, votes, and more.
With Speaker of the House John Boehner leaving Congress at the end of the month, the top job in the House of Representatives is up for grabs. Whoever wins the position will have enormous influence over what Congress does for the next year, and perhaps for much longer.
So far three representatives have announced they are running for the spot: Reps. Kevin McCarthy (CA), who is the current “Majority Leader,” Daniel Webster (FL), and Jason Chaffetz (UT).
The Republican caucus will vote on Thursday, October 8, 2015, to select their nominee for the position, and the full House is scheduled to vote on the matter on October 29, though that vote will almost certainly just confirm what the Republicans will have already decided.
This post looks at their records while in Congress, how they voted on some key bills, and what GovTrack’s statistical analyses say.
What does the Speaker of the House do?
The Speaker of the House is the chairman of the House of Representatives, the highest-ranking legislative official in the government, and second in the line of presidential succession following the Vice President.
In addition to representing their district as an ordinary Member of Congress, the Speaker plays a major role in determining the legislative agenda of the House. They exercise their power over the legislative process by choosing which bills reach the House floor for votes, which committees bills are referred to after they are introduced, who serves on key committees, and through other direct and indirect means.
As a custom, Speakers typically don’t vote on the House floor unless their vote is necessary to break a tie on an important piece of legislation.
Kevin McCarthy
John Boehner’s preferred choice as his successor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy is widely considered the frontrunner in the race to become the next Speaker. McCarthy entered Congress in 2007 and has risen through the ranks of Republican leadership to hold the position of Majority Leader, a role he assumed after the previous Majority Leader, Eric Cantor, stepped down amidst a surprise loss in the primaries.
McCarthy is seen by many as the establishment candidate, and his rapid ascension in the party suggest that he fits in well with recent Republican leaders. He has been a very good fundraiser, raising well above the average amount for all representatives in the 2012 and 2014 cycles. As Speaker, McCarthy would likely maintain much of the procedural control that Boehner (and Nancy Pelosi before him) imposed, and that control would make it less likely that Congress does something that big Republican donors would oppose.
McCarthy represents California’s 22nd congressional district, a solidly Republican district in the San Joaquin Valley. He serves on the Financial Services Committee and his top career donors include political action committees and employees of Votesane PAC (an organization that serves as a conduit for small donations from individuals), Goldman Sachs, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and Comcast.
Bills
Only one substantive bill sponsored by McCarthy has ever become law. It was rolled into the JOBS Act that was signed into law by President Obama in 2011:
H.R. 2940 (112th Congress) — Access to Capital for Job Creators Act: Directs the SEC to allow companies to more easily advertise and sell shares to mass audiences through eliminating a ban on “general solicitations.”
Two other substantive bills that McCarthy sponsored have been passed by the House, but did not become law:
H.R. 2262 — SPACE Act of 2015: A bill designed to encourage private sector investment in space exploration. The American Association for Justice says it immunizes space companies from liability for accidents.
H.R. 2623 (111th Congress) — To amend the Federal securities laws to clarify and expand the definition of certain persons under those laws.: Ensures that the SEC can take action against people formerly associated with entities they supervise or regulate, like stock exchanges and clearing organizations, for misconduct they committed while at the organization.
You can view all of McCarthy’s bills here: sponsored and co-sponsored.
Daniel Webster
Daniel Webster is the long shot candidate to become Speaker. The last time he threw his hat into the ring for the Speakership he received just 12 votes for the position. However, with more conservative members supporting his bid this time around, including some of those who pressured Boehner into stepping down, Webster should fare better in the upcoming vote.
Webster has said that he wants to flatten the “pyramid of power” that exists in the House and bring more rank-and-file members into the legislative process. If elected as Speaker, Webster could allow for a more open amendment process, and that could present an opportunity for conservative members to push legislation that is opposed by establishment Republicans and their donors. He wants to replace the pyramid of power with a “principles-based system” that he says will help good ideas advance in Congress regardless of the power or political party of the people who propose them.
Webster, elected to Congress in the “wave” election of 2010 that brought the Tea Party to Capitol Hill, represents the 10th congressional district of Florida, a solidly Republican district in central Florida that includes parts of Orange County, Lake County, and Polk County. His top career donors include political action committees and employees of The Villages (a real estate developer), Publix Super Market, and Frontline Homeowner’s Insurance.
Bills
None of Webster’s bills have ever passed the House or become law.
Here are some of the more substantive bills he has introduced:
- THRIFT Act: Allows federal agencies to create cost-saving plans and retain up to 25% of annual appropriations for salary increases and employee rewards.
- TIFA 2.0 Act: Turns highway trust fund into a revolving fund in order to create a sustainable system for funding infrastructure projects.
- One New Employee Act: Provides a tax credit for corporations that hire new employees who had received unemployment compensation in the past year.
- Prioritize Spending Act: Sets new priorities for funding in case the debt ceiling is surpassed. Prioritizes outlays in the following order: paying the debt, paying military personnel, funding vital national security priorities, Social Security, and Medicare.
You can view all of Webster’s bills here: sponsored and co-sponsored.
Jason Chaffetz
Chaffetz has been a member of Congress since 2009, and he has risen through the ranks to become chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the House’s chief investigative body and one of the most powerful and influential committee in Congress. He has won praise for his willingness to work with both Democrats and Republicans as a committee leader.
Chaffetz has been called a proto-Tea Party member. He was elected in 2008, the election before the big Tea Party midterms of 2010, by mounting a primary challenge to an establishment incumbent, Chris Cannon, and winning by running to his right. But he’s also managed to get along with Republican leaders while in Congress, as evidenced by his ascension to chair a powerful committee so quickly. As CNN notes, Chaffetz could play the role of the “unity candidate” in the Speaker race if enough House conservatives oppose McCarthy. If McCarthy loses more than 29 Republicans, he won’t reach a majority on the House floor, and Chaffetz would likely pull together a larger faction within the party than Webster.
Chaffetz represents Utah’s 3rd congressional district, a deeply Republican district that includes the cities of Orem and Provo. His top career donors include political action committees and employees of Nu Skin Enterprises (a multi-level marketing company that Chaffetz worked for for a number of years), Zions Bankcorp, and the American Bankers Association.
Bills
Jason Chaffetz has introduced and sponsored three substantive bills that have became law:
H.R. 251 (113th Congress) — South Utah Valley Electric Conveyance Act: Transfers ownership of an electricity distribution system from the federal government to local organizations in Utah.
H.R. 254 (113th Congress) — Bonneville Unit Clean Hydropower Facilitation Act: Authorizes the federal government to facilitate construction of a hydroelectric facility on a river system in Utah.
H.R. 255 (113th Congress) — A technical correction to update legislation previously enacted that transferred a canal in Utah from federal ownership to control by local organizations.
You can view all of Chaffetz’s bills here: sponsored and co-sponsored.
Key Votes
Here’s a quick look at how these candidates for Speaker voted on some key bills over the past few years that were divisive among parts of the Republican caucus.
H.R. 2775: Ending the 2013 government shutdown and lifting the debt ceiling.
McCarthy: YEA — Webster: YEA — Chaffetz: NAY
H.R. 2146: Fast track for the President’s trade bills:
McCarthy: YEA — Webster: NAY — Chaffetz: YEA
H.R. 83: The 2015 “CRomnibus,” a bill that funded the government and included controversial riders on financial regulations, funding for party committees, and other issues.
McCarthy: YEA — Webster: NAY — Chaffetz: YEA
H.R. 3361: USA Freedom Act: Extends expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act and amends the law so as to replace the government’s bulk phone collection program with a plan for telecom companies to collect and store the data.
McCarthy: YEA — Webster: YEA — Chaffetz: YEA
H. Amdt. 1141 to H. J. Res. 124: Arming and training Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State
McCarthy: YEA — Webster: YEA — Chaffetz: YEA
Unique Insights from GovTrack data (113th Congress)
Co-sponsors: how their bills compare to other House members in attracting co-sponsors. Securing cosponsors is an important part of getting support for a bill.
McCarthy: 54th lowest out of 441 representatives
Webster: 47th lowest out of 441 representatives
Chaffetz: 50th lowest out of 441 representatives
Joining bipartisan bills: how often they sign onto bills that were written by Democrats. Working on a bipartisan basis is often helpful for getting legislation passed into law.
McCarthy: 183rd lowest out of 437 representatives
Webster: 151st lowest out of 437 representatives
Chaffetz: 97th lowest out of 437 representatives
Getting bills out of committee: How much success have they had getting their bills through the committee process. The vast majority of bills die in committee.
McCarthy: 54th highest out of 234 House Republicans
Webster: 27th highest out of 234 House Republicans
Chaffetz: 15th highest out of 234 House Republicans
Sponsorship Analysis
GovTrack’s unique analysis of the bills Members of Congress have sponsored and cosponsored provides insight into their positions in the House of Representatives. Each dot in the chart below is a member of the House of Representatives. The dots are positioned horizontally according to our progressive — conservative ideology score and vertically according to our leadership score (leaders toward the top). The candidates for Speaker are shown as purple triangles. (analysis methodology)
