USA: As Republicans seek to pass a rules package defining how they will govern, divisive new Speaker Kevin McCarthy will face his first test of being able to control the disorganised US House of Representatives on Monday.

Following one of the most turbulent weeks in the history of the lower chamber of Congress, a vote is scheduled for this evening on the blueprint that has raised concerns due to its concessions to the Republican right.

McCarthy had to pass 15 rounds of voting over the course of four days to get past a far-right obstruction to his candidature. As a result, lawmakers in the newly Republican-controlled House nearly exchanged blows.

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Democrats claim the agreements he made to sway the vote severely reduced the speaker's authority and gave it to the most extreme Republicans in the legislature.

Republican priorities for the remaining months of Democratic President Joe Biden's term are outlined in a publicly accessible 55-page rules package, along with the party's operational guidelines.

A panel to look into the "weaponization of government" is one of the main initiatives, and it's anticipated that it will focus on the Justice Department's inquiries into the former president Donald Trump.

Additionally, the bill gives any member the power to force a vote to remove the speaker, giving right-wingers a safety net to hold McCarthy accountable.

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Additionally, it mandates that the House vote on a number of right-wing priorities, including a ban on taxpayer-funded abortions and the withdrawal of $72 billion in agreed-upon funding for income tax enforcement.
If every Democrat votes against the bill, McCarthy can afford to lose no more than four of his legislators, but since only two Republicans have publicly opposed it, it is anticipated to pass.

However, because they were negotiated off-the-record with the extreme right-wing House Freedom Caucus and aren't included in the official package, McCarthy's most contentious concessions remain shrouded in mystery.

"We are unsure of what (conservatives) received or did not receive. Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina, one of the two Republicans who disagreed, told CBS on Sunday, "We haven't seen it.

"We have no idea what gentlemanly handshakes or promises were exchanged." According to US media, McCarthy has agreed, for instance, to give the Freedom Caucus disproportionate influence over how legislation is handled on a daily basis, effectively handing the right flank significant leadership authority.

A promise to hold discussions with conservatives about adopting a 10-year budget that freezes spending at 2022 levels is even more contentious. Reduced funding for federal agencies as well as a likely 10% drop in defence spending would result from this.

Texas Republican Tony Gonzales told CBS on Sunday, "This has a proposed billions of (dollars) cut to defence, which I think is a terrible idea."
"How am I going to look our allies in the eye and say, 'I need you to increase your defence budget, but yet America is going to decrease ours.' When you have aggressive Russia and Ukraine, you have a growing threat from China in the Pacific?

Despite serving in the Freedom Caucus leadership, Jim Jordan, a supporter of McCarthy, told Fox News that "everything has to be on the table," including funding for Ukraine's defence against Russian invasion.

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Sincerely, we ought to consider how best to use the funds we send to Ukraine in order to protect America. Jordan declared.
Many fiscal conservatives would be delighted by the cuts, but they are largely symbolic and would never pass the Democratic-controlled Senate.

If the upper chamber has concerns, it can modify House legislation and send it back, starting negotiations for a compromise between the two chambers.