On January 7th, the Republican House majority leader from California Kevin McCarthy won the Speaker of the House of Representatives election. This came after a long 4 days of 15 rounds of voting with no candidate winning a majority, a requirement for obtaining the speaker position. This put the 2023 House Speaker vote in the running for the longest vote of its kind in United States history. 

The Democrats of the House stood unified under their minority leader from New York Hakeem Jeffries, it was expected that a similar amount of unity would be found in the Republican ranks. These preconceived notions were shattered when a coalition of 19 House Republicans voted against Kevin McCarthy, denying him what could have been a quick and easy victory. 

This coalition, most of which are members of the Freedom Caucus, took issue with McCarthy only being able to secure a mediocre victory for the House Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections. They also take issue with the lackluster performance of Conservative governance, past house leaders have failed to yield victories for the conservative movement. 

Key policy issues like immigration and tax reform have not been prioritized by Republican establishment leadership. They believe Kevin McCarthy will repeat this trend if elected to the Speaker position. For four days, this group of rebellious representatives held up the House after repeated failed votes. They nominated various candidates from Ohio Republican Jim Jordan to Byron Donalds of Florida. Matt Gaetz considered the rebellion's leader, even nominated Donald Trump for the position, praising his success as president as justification. 

With McCarthy’s speaker ambitions coming to a grinding halt, he was forced to the negotiating table with the opposition. Their terms were as follows: the ability to initiate a vote for removing the speaker with the request of one representative, prioritizing issues like border security and immigration reform, placing restrictions on increasing spending, putting their conservatives in committee leadership positions, and finally making it easier for members not in leadership positions to propose legislation. McCarthy submitted to these demands and the rebellion was crushed. 

This compromise has been the shift that I and many others have been waiting to see in Conservative politics. The establishment class of Neo-Conservatives that have allowed leftism to progress to devastating levels have finally lost ground in the houses of power. Republican complacency in a declining America has been successfully challenged and hope in this dark time for American Conservatism can be seen. We have seen the American family attacked by abortion, the American dream crushed by free-trade and burdensome regulations, the American nation violated by the influx of illegal immigration, and our sacred American government corrupted by elitists and special interests. I find it comforting that there are at least a few politicians that recognize our situation and have the bravery to make movements in the right direction. One Liberal criticism I often hear, especially recently, is that the Republican party has become all talk with no interest in actually proposing solutions to the problems. Looking back on the midterm election campaigns, I have come to realize that these criticisms are to some degree true. With surging inflation, skyrocketing crime, and a deteriorating situation at the border, the Biden administration has been such an objective failure, and yet we continue to be defeated. Republicans point out the many failures in Biden’s America but fail to provide concrete solutions to these issues. The efforts of this compromise were led by the Freedom Caucus, a group of socially and fiscally Conservative House members fighting more for the common American. The Freedom Caucus and its members have answered this issue within the party, providing demands that will either target specific issues or will influence their solutions. While traitorous Republican leadership allowed for spending to increase for decades, the Freedom Caucus has enforced measures to directly limit spending bills. This spending limit also serves as a means to combat inflation, something that has become a routine plague upon our economy. They also force Populist Conservative issues like protecting American sovereignty with a stronger border to be brought into the main discussion. More Freedom Caucus members will be appointed to House Committees, expanding their power over the early stages of the legislative process. This has been a revolution in Conservatism only surpassed in magnitude by the ascension of Donald Trump to the presidency. The Freedom Caucus has sent its message clearly to the Republican party leadership, enough. Enough with complacency, incompetence, and betrayal, my fellow Republicans should all stand behind this message.