On January 7, after 15 rounds of voting, Kevin McCarthy of the Republican party was elected the 55th person to serve as Speaker of the House. The role of Speaker of the House is to be the presiding officer of the House of Representatives. Those elected to this position maintain order, manage proceedings, and govern the administrations of the House’s business. 

History and Government teacher, Mr. Gallagher, spent time discussing this with his Government seniors. He had ideas on what this election will mean for the foreseeable political future. 

“I would argue that it is significant because it gives us good political insight into the current dynamics of the Republican party because it shows that there are various factions within the party that have differing views on how our government should best go forward, which is why we saw certain members refuse to vote for Kevin McCarthy initially,” said Gallagher.

This lengthy election process has led people to believe that this division within the party could be a prelude to later conflicts further down the road.