[News] McCarthy's secret deal, George Santos, Biden and Trump docs, abortion prompt fiery debate in new Congress

[Douma]

The new Congress is off to a fiery start, wasting no time before diving into heated debates about the "secret deal" that helped Speaker Kevin McCarthy win after 15 rounds of voting, embattled Republican Rep. George Santos and former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents. Those faceoffs come on top of the other more routine debates between Republicans and Democrats in Congress, who often disagree on government spending, the debt ceiling and abortion. 

Democrats used much of their weekly press conference Tuesday to rail against Republican leadership for chaos, confusion and a "secret deal" McCarthy cut with conservative hardliners to secure the speakership. 

Criticism has also been raised publicly by some members of his own party, including from Reps. Tony Gonzales of Texas and Nancy Mace of South Carolina. 
Some of McCarthy's concessions were in the rules package that passed Monday night, while other agreements were part of a handshake deal. 

"There's still some questions that I think many of us have about what side deals may or may not have been made, what promises are made, what handshakes are made," Mace said to reporters. 

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said during a news conference Tuesday morning that McCarthy "laid that out today to the membership" during a Republican meeting. He said some things, such as which members will serve on committees, haven't been decided yet. That's the work of the Steering Committee.

Meanwhile, Democrats say McCarthy offering concessions to conservative hardliners puts government spending and transparency at risk. 

During a floor speech on Monday and on Twitter, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said McCarthy's speakership is weaker because of it. 

"Speaker McCarthy may have the gavel, but he gave the election deniers and MAGA extremists all the power," he said.

Two New York Democrats, Reps. Ritchie Torres and Dan Goldman,  on Tuesday filed a formal complaint with the House Ethics Committee against Santos for violating the Ethics in Government Act, saying he must be held accountable for "defrauding both Congress and the public."

This is on top of a Federal Election Commission complaint that accuses Santos of illegally using campaign funds for personal expenses.

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/01/11/mccarthy-deal-santos-classified-docs-congress/11023184002/