The Freedom Caucus, a right-wing faction in the House, might have outsized leverage in the new Congress as the result of a secret pact struck with Speaker Kevin McCarthy that allowed the Republican leader to seize the House gavel after an exhausting four-day inner-party struggle.
The small group’s reform ideas include cutting defense spending and reining in the power of government, while making the lower chamber more transparent.
Earlier this week, House Republican leaders named new heads to run the Foreign Affairs, Judiciary and Homeland Security panels, among others. The new chairs are expected to launch probes into Hunter Biden's business dealings and the Democrats' "weaponization" of federal government.
The latter, which was pushed by the Freedom Caucus, will be closely modeled after the 1970s Church Committee which looked into CIA abuses.
Establishment Wall
Independent journalist and political commentator Sam Husseini suggested the new generation of politicians who questioned establishment orthodoxies could start tackling genuine problems.
"We could see some ruptures in the traditional Democrat versus Republican narrative: You could see anti-establishment candidates from each party allying against their respective establishments," he said.
Some of the concessions McCarthy caved into were things progressives should get behind including the new Church Committee to investigate government wrongdoing.
However, he cautioned, new Democratic leadership in the House that succeeded Speaker Nancy Pelosi, looked certain to cooperate in all efforts to block reform.
Democratic Party Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, for example, like many Republican leaders, is also in the pocket of powerful interest groups, Husseini said.
"Such establishment collusion will be facilitated by the ascension of Hakeem Jeffries - a creature of Wall Street and AIPAC [the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee]," Husseini said.
Besides, unlike the Freedom Caucus, the Democratic Party’s progressive wing failed to make demands of Pelosi when she was soliciting votes to become Speaker in the last Congress.
"They didn't do that claiming it wouldn't work. Well, it worked fine for the Republicans," he said.
Professor Emeritus of Political Science at California State University Beau Grosscup said the Democrats, under the control of "Wall Street" Democratic National Committee loyalists, want the party to remain a "Lincoln-Neo Conservative lite."
In addition, long-standing rivalries between the two parties were likely to contribute to continuing political stalemate, Grosscup advised. Not to mention, rather than cooperate, the Democrats are more likely to exploit divisions within the Republican Party given the latter’s slim majority.
"As long as the Democrats stay united… there is a stalemate in the House," Grosscup said.
Meanwhile, some are even skeptical that McCarthy himself will try to enact the details of the deal that won him the speakership.
Political commentator and former Hedge Fund manager Charles Ortel doubts McCarthy will help the radicals given he was not helpful to former President Donald Trump.
"McCarthy is a career politician who, under Speaker Paul Ryan, was not helpful to President Trump during 2017 and 2018, when it seems that RINOS and fellow Swamp Democrats attempted to hobble the Trump Administration many ways, including appointing and funding Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller on specious grounds," Ortel said.
Moreover, the new speaker will have a tough time in championing corruption probes.
"There are unanswered questions concerning the financial position and personal life of Speaker McCarthy which likely will weaken his ability to tackle endemic corruption in Washington, DC," Ortel added.
Dems' Core Agenda Under Attack
The Republican rebels overall still face an uphill battle given their party’s majority in the House is slim while the Senate remains under Democratic control.
However, US constitutional historian and political commentator Dan Lazare still thinks some of the Freedom Caucus’ demands will put a ton of pressure on the Democratic Party and the Biden administration’s core agenda, including social spending.
"The Freedom Caucus will demand big concessions in return. And when I say ‘big,’ I mean big as in Social Security or Medicare big," Lazare said. "The ultra-right wants to cut both, and it thinks it may finally have the opportunity."
The right-wing Republican proposals will also make it difficult to lift the ceiling on America's $31-trillion federal debt, Lazare added.
Such extreme demands from Republicans controlling the House could present a huge dilemma for the president, Lazare predicted.
"It will present the White House with a Hobson's choice: either default on US bonds or default on a social contract going back to FDR and the New Deal," Lazare added. "It ain't gonna be pretty."