In the wake of giving the American public an unobstructed view of the highly dramatic events that took place throughout the voting for the house speaker last week, C-SPAN could once again have the power to place cameras throughout the House chamber thanks to a brand new amendment being put forth by one Republican legislator.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has chosen to sponsor an amendment that would require the House speaker to let a total of four cameras which will be owned and operated by C-SPAN set up and broadcast their recording of the events that take place on the chamber floor, as reported by Fox News.
“I’ve received a lot of feedback from constituents about how interesting it was, and that you were able to see in real-time how our government is functioning, what alliances are being created, what discussions are being had, what animated moments drive the action,” Gaetz explained to the large outlet. “And the pool view of the Congress is antiquated and a little boomer-fied.”
.@RepMattGaetz amendment to the House Rules package would allow CSPAN cameras to film the House floor at all times — as we saw last week pic.twitter.com/EVC7tmdP2o
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 10, 2023
The members of the Republican-controlled House finally managed to elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to the role of House Speaker after a total of 15 ballots just past midnight on Saturday. As part of that multi-day process, C-SPAN was able to bring in a number of positive reviews about how its staff managed to capture some of the most chaotic and dynamic events throughout the House chamber during negotiations and voting with its large number of camera angles. These cameras were able to capture one of the most volatile moments in the House this past Friday evening when they caught Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) being dragged away by a fellow senator in order to stop a brewing fight with Gaetz.
Chaos on the House floor: After losing the 14th ballot for Speaker, Kevin McCarthy appeared to plead with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to change his vote from present to McCarthy.
Then, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) had to be held back from going at Gaetz. pic.twitter.com/foyCRVYrw1
— The Recount (@therecount) January 7, 2023
On the other hand, there were a number of fun instances spotted by these cameras as well. They were able to spot Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) chatting with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) along with Gaetz chatting it up with McCarthy which spawned a bout of funny mock interpretations by Bad Lip Reading, a highly popular Twitter account, which ended up going viral.
AOC montage with Gosar and Gaetz. pic.twitter.com/laxwktKpwF
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 3, 2023
They don't always discuss politics#aoc #118thCongress pic.twitter.com/XkXHGf0C5s
— Bad Lip Reading (@BadLipReading) January 5, 2023
Everything changes once you know what McCarthy and Gaetz were actually saying#118thCongress #KevinMcCarthy #MattGaetz pic.twitter.com/8Yr7LCtioC
— Bad Lip Reading (@BadLipReading) January 8, 2023
This past Monday, C-SPAN spoke up to announce, just as the House started talking about their new rules package, that their government-controlled cameras were finally back and that it was going to be returning to broadcasting its feed from the chamber.
After the finalizing of the speaker vote, members on both sides of the aisle elected to voice their support for changing how cameras are operated throughout the chamber.