Beware of politics led by extremists

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Beware of politics led by extremists

Published: 04 Oct. 2023, 19:52 Updated: 05 Oct. 2023, 12:08

The U.S. House of Representatives has ousted Kevin McCarthy as House speaker, the third highest person in the United States. The expulsion of the leader of the House on Tuesday is the first in the 234-year history of the U.S. Congress. Due to his sudden departure after 269 days of service, the House will likely be in a vegetative state for a while. Debates on next year’s budget will also be difficult for the time being.

The motion to expel McCarthy was proposed by Rep. Matt Gaetz, a member of the Freedom Caucus, a group of hardliners in the Republican Party. Gaetz submitted the motion to hold McCarthy accountable for his decision to lead the passage of next year’s budget to prevent a possible shutdown of the Federal government. The hawkish Republicans attacked McCarthy for considerably accepting the position of Democrats while ignoring the position of hardline Republicans who demanded a budget cut. The voting is called a “revolt by extreme rightists” in the conservative party.

In a shocking development, the House of Representatives has skipped dialogue and negotiations — the core values of democracy — in the land of representative democracy. Another mystery is why all Democrats voted to oust him even though he helped prevent a shutdown of the federal government. In that sense, McCarthy was betrayed by the Democrats in the House.

The episode is reminiscent of the bare passage of the motion to endorse the prosecution’s request for an arrest warrant for Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung, thanks to his opponents in the majority party. In the case of the U.S. House, 216 lawmakers — specifically, 208 Democrats and eight hardline Republicans — voted to oust McCarthy, while 210 voted against.

The situation could be different between the Congress and the Korean parliament. And yet, lawmakers in both countries used an extreme card just because they don’t like their boss.

Korea must thoroughly prepare for possible delays in deliberations on bills related to our mainstay exports, including chips and electric vehicles, due to the political vacuum from McCarty’s oust. Concerns arose over the possibility of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) — directly related to the U.S. Forces Korea, the transfer of the wartime operational control (Opcon) and the missile defense system — being repealed by a few hardliners in the House.

Our lawmakers must carefully manage the Korea-U.S. alliance instead of battling with their rivals before the parliamentary elections next April.