Who's in Charge of the U.S. House of Representatives Anyway? (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Is there anyone at the helm of the U.S. House of Representatives?

GOP leaders suffered another very public defeat yesterday after rank-and-file members of their own conference defected to join the Democrat minority to defeat a disaster relief bill. Just hours earlier, House Majority Leader Eric Canter, R-Va., said it would pass. Just two months ago, Republicans defeated a plan by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to cut deficit spending and raise the debt ceiling in an equally public rebuke.

So, who is leading the House these day?

Clearly, it is not the speaker. After yesterday, clearly it is not the majority leader either. It appears the agenda that the freshman tea party members brought to Congress has no room for compromise and, even more shocking, it has little respect for leadership.

Our republic has succeeded because no one political party had a lock on what the American people want. We are 50 states and multitudes of different people with differing priorities. The House - the people's house - has to blend those priorities into a national policy and that requires compromise. And, the complexity of American government means that freshmen legislators need some time to learn the process before attempting to change the process.

I'm all about cutting spending and reducing our national debt. I'm all for forcing President Barack Obama to adopt a new approach to paying for government. And, I definitely think that government needs to do what they can to support an economic recovery. These are all complicated processes magnified by a 24-hour-news cycle and an "I know enough to be dangerous" mentality from a vocal electorate.

The news today isn't that supplemental funding for FEMA failed in the House. The news is that the House leadership is unable to control its own members. Congress always comes through in a crisis, and I'm sure that there will be FEMA funding before it is exhausted early next week. But the greater challenge will be to get members of Congress to work together on bigger issues without making every single attempt at passing a bill a national (or political) crisis.

It would interesting to see if Boehner could survive a vote of confidence from his own Republican conference. They way they are kicking the man around, I'd be surprised at the answer.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110922/us_ac/9168293_whos_in_charge_of_the_us_house_of_representatives_anyway

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