January 04, 2023
SIU experts can discuss U.S. House speaker vote, impact
CARBONDALE, Ill. — As the U.S. House of Representatives continues debate and voting on who will become its next speaker, experts with Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute are available to discuss the vote, what this intraparty division means for the country once a speaker is selected, and the impact on a Republican Party that narrowly took control of the U.S. House in the November midterm elections.
John Jackson, Paul Simon Public Policy Institute visiting professor, has more than four decades of political expertise and research in politics, campaigns and elections. He can be reached at 618-303-1240 or jsjacson@siu.edu.
“This is already a historic event for the Congress. It has been 100 years since the election of the speaker required multiple votes. This dispute graphically shows how deeply divided the Republicans in Congress are over what their approach to participating in governing will be over the next two years. It is a rocky start,” Jackson said.
John T. Shaw, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, spent 26 years in Washington, D.C., covering Congress and economic issues for Market News International before his arrival at SIU Carbondale in 2018. He has been a guest on the PBS NewsHour and C-SPAN. He can be reached at 618-453-4009 or shaw@siu.edu.
“After the midterm elections in November, many analysts have focused on the challenges of divided government as Democrats and Republicans share power in Washington. But it now seems that the most serious and consequential division in American politics is within the Republican Party — as the fight to elect a House speaker has shown us,” Shaw said.