New House approved rules, Brazil investigates uprising: 5 Things podcast

On today’s episode of the 5 Things podcast: House approves new rules, first big test for Republican-led chamber

USA TODAY Congress Reporter Candy Woodall has the latest after the House approved new rules. Plus, authorities make hundreds of arrests after demonstrators stormed Brazilian government buildings, police say a 6-year-old deliberately shot his teacher, Prince Harry’s new book, ‘Spare,’ hits shelves, and the first vaccine for honeybees has been approved.

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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I’m Taylor Wilson, and this is 5 Things you need to know Tuesday, the 10th of January, 2023. Today, the House gets to work with new rules. Plus authorities in Brazil make hundreds of arrests after Sunday’s uprising at government buildings, and there’s a vaccine for honeybees.

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Well, after a historically tumultuous week on Capitol Hill, the House reconvened last night and adopted new rules for the 118th Congress. The rules package decides how the House does business and is usually one of the more routine procedures of Congress. But after last week, work in the House is anything but routine. For more, I’m now joined by USA TODAY Congress Reporter Candy Woodall. Candy, thanks as always for coming on the show.

Candy Woodall:

Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So Candy, the House approved new rules yesterday. This is often a pretty straightforward procedure, but the House has been anything but straightforward in recent weeks. Why was this year’s rules vote different?

Candy Woodall:

There was a lot of attention on the rules this year. New speaker, Kevin McCarthy had negotiated with about 20 members of a hard right flank of his party, in order for him to get the concessions he needed essentially to be speaker. Probably the most important concession in there allows any one member to move to vote to vacate the speaker. Meaning that any one member could start a vote that would potentially remove Kevin McCarthy from the speakership if they don’t like how he’s leading. That could be him putting up a bill they don’t like, him not putting up a bill they don’t like. Three members of the House Freedom Caucus will have a seat on the Rules Committee. And I think a lot of Americans are learning now about the House rules package, which just normally govern how the House does its business, as well as the House Rules Committee, which is very powerful. And the reason that the House Rules Committee is so powerful is because it does decide essentially what can get to the floor.

Taylor Wilson:

Candy, tell me about the debate on the floor before this vote even happened.

Candy Woodall:

You had Democrats accusing Republicans of crafting this deal in secret, behind the scenes. They accused Republicans of giving in and giving up their integrity to this group of hardline conservatives. And then you had Republicans saying, “No, we want to make sure Washington works for its citizens and not for itself.” And they believe that these changes in the House rules, that these changes are going to benefit the American people.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. We saw absolute chaos on the floor last week. There were even lawmakers holding each other back at one point, particularly that Friday got very, very tense. Did we see any of that last night or were things more straightforward?

Candy Woodall:

It was normal. It looked like a more routine time in the House, and a very expedient process I will say. I think this is the fastest the House has ever voted on anything.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. Candy Woodall covers congress for USA TODAY. Thanks so much.

Candy Woodall:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

Authorities in Brazil said yesterday that they’re looking into who may have been behind the uprising of demonstrators who stormed government buildings in the capital. Thousands of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro swarmed into Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace on Sunday. Many of them pushed for a military coup to restore Bolsonaro to power and oust newly-elected leftist president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Police yesterday broke down a pro-Bolsonaro encampment outside a military building and attained some 1,200 people. 300 others were arrested on Sunday during the riot. But police were slow to react to the incident, leading many to question whether authorities had ignored warnings, underestimated protestors’ numbers, or even been complicit. Bolsonaro went to Florida after his election defeat last fall, and was apparently hospitalized there with abdominal pain this week. Since his election loss, he stoked belief in election fraud without ever presenting evidence.