On Jan. 7, Kevin McCarthy was elected as the new speaker of the House after a historic 15 rounds of voting and a series of negotiations between the representatives and Republican hardliners blocking his campaign.

The fight between McCarthy and his GOP colleagues began on the first day of the new congressional session and went on for four days; such a lengthy process hasn’t been seen in our history since before the Civil War, a bad omen for the future of Congress. There are several problems with McCarthy’s delayed election that we should draw attention to. 

First, it’s important to note that members of a new Congress cannot be sworn in by oath until a speaker is elected. Members who haven’t taken the oath cannot vote or participate in any floor proceedings, which essentially means any legislative agenda is put on hold. Not only did this requirement delay the progress of the new Congress right off the bat, but it’s also indicative of how the Republican-controlled House will govern in the coming years.

This is also a testament to this Congress’ inability to vote quickly and effectively, which could be a serious problem in the event of a national emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Second, the Republicans, with 222 seats currently, can only afford to lose four votes on any piece of legislation in order for it to be passed, because 218 is the magic number to gain a majority in the House. However, there were already 20 Republican representatives that combated McCarthy’s initiative, showing that his side is already at a disadvantage from the start.

These 20 Republicans were not unified in their disagreement. Some were looking for policy or rule changes, while others simply refused to follow others due to their contempt for McCarthy. If members from the same party can’t agree on a simple speaker, or even the reasons for which they disagree, how are they to come to a consensus on legislation in the future?

Attempting to pacify those who were holding him back has only brought McCarthy to the speaker’s gavel with a disadvantage and weakened reputation, considering the concessions he made. For example, he said he would bring more members of the House Freedom Caucus — a conglomerate of far-right representatives in Congress — to positions in the House Rules Committee, which determines how and if bills come to the floor and many other important decisions. This raises the question of how effective a leader McCarthy will truly be.

Third, former President Donald Trump resisted restating his endorsement for McCarthy as Speaker, which was possibly related to McCarthy’s condemnation of the U.S. Capitol riots that soured their relationship. Though Trump did not rescind his endorsement, his refusal to refresh that idea is clear commentary on the state of polarization within the Republican party in Congress.

All of that being said, we’re college students, so what are we supposed to do about what’s happening on Capitol Hill?

Now that midterms are over, we unfortunately can’t do anything about the people who are sworn in to Congress. We can’t control what will take place on the House floor, but we can prepare for later elections. The national government’s sphere of influence on issues such as abortion and LGBTQ+ rights intensely affects us — more so than other groups within society, I believe — and awareness of this influence is imperative for future elections.

For the next presidential and congressional elections, it’s important that the college student demographic gets out to vote so that we can be represented. The polarized, slight Republican majority isn’t representative of all of us. In the coming years, hopefully we can build a Congress that is more productive with this in mind.