An Abhorrent Assault on Democracy

We have all heard the expression, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.” Last week I discussed the unofficial yet strictly adhered to “Super Minority” rule in the House of Representatives, euphemistically called “majority of the majority.” Denny Hastert (R-IL), the former Republican Speaker of the House, unilaterally decided in 2004 that no legislation would go forward (in the House of Representatives) unless a majority of his GOP House caucus supported it. Hastert dubbed it the “majority of the majority” rule. The mainstream media instantly gave credibility to this inherently undemocratic directive by repeating the term -absent any context of its true meaning. However, Hastert’s rule is not about a majority, it is about the empowering of a Super Minority in the House of Representatives. In real numbers, half of the GOP’s House caucus, both then and now, is equal to only about one third of the chamber’s 435 members. Hastert’s Super Minority edict represents the most one sided, Machiavellian rule ever imposed in the People’s House. Due in no small part to a malleable Washington press corps, Americans may not fully appreciate just how antithetical Hastert’s "Super Minority" decree is to our principles of democracy and how it has stymied progress in congress to this day.

                                                                

                                                                      ^{Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Leader, discusses "discharge petition" to evade GOP's Super Minority rule.}

Vote by Mail America contacted House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office and several individual members of Congress to ascertain if, when in the majority, Democrats used or planned to use Hastert’s rule. Unfortunately, we were unable to get a definite response. We also conducted an internet search to discover if House Democrats employed the rule. Our search did not find any reports of Democrats availing themselves of the Super Minority rule when they controlled the House.

Republicans and Democrats should take to the floor of the House to denounce governance by Super Minority. As importantly, rather than continually committing facile journalism that lends credence to an oblique and euphemistic term, the media, particularly the Washington press corps, should relentlessly expose the concept of “majority of the majority” for what in practice it really is, an abhorrent assault on representative government.

Brent Scott

Executive Director of Vote by Mail America