After nine Republican House members sent a sharp letter warning how electing him would constitute a “continuation of previous and continuing Republican failures,” support for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to become the next House Speaker appeared to be ebbing quickly.
In an effort to gain support for his speakership vote on January 3, when the new Congress begins office, McCarthy visited with GOP lawmakers on Sunday.
In contrast, a number of Republican lawmakers, including Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Chip Roy of Texas, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Andy Harris of Maryland, and Andrew Clyde of Georgia, as well as the representatives-to-be Andy Nogales of Tennessee, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, and Eli Crane of Arizona, have expressed opposition to McCarthy’s candidacy and vowed to vote against him.
McCarthy acknowledged the dysfunction of the House of Representatives and promised to fix it in a letter he penned on New Year’s Eve headlined “Restoring the People’s House and Ending Business as Usual,” but that did not sit well with everyone in the GOP.
The letter from the nine GOP lawmakers said, “Unfortunately, despite some progress accomplished, Mr. McCarthy’s statement comes almost impossibly late to address remaining problems ahead of the commencement of the 118th Congress on January 3rd.”
At this stage, it is not surprising that far too many of the important issues remaining up for discussion are not adequately addressed by assertions of hazy aspirations. This is particularly true in regards to Mr. McCarthy’s speaker campaign since the times need a dramatic break from the current quo, not a continuation of Republican failures that have already occurred and are now occurring,’ the letter said.
The nine House Republicans said in their letter on Sunday that they will not accept following Nancy Pelosi’s example by isolating leadership in this way. “McCarthy’s statement also continues to propose to restrict the availability of the traditional motion to vacate the chair as a means of holding leadership accountable to its promises,” the members of the House of Representatives stated.
We further point out that the declaration does not address the problem of leadership efforts to derail conservative candidates in open primaries. The development achieved so far has been beneficial and ought to direct our future thinking.
There is even talk of a leadership change among certain extreme-right party legislators.
Republican Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona is challenging McCarthy, a congressman from California, in the race for speaker.
Biggs has openly stated his intention to vote against McCarthy on January 3 with with Representatives Matt Gaetz of Florida, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Bob Good of Virginia, and Matt Rosendale of Montana.
With the exception of Gaetz, four of the members are part of the House Freedom Caucus.
The five representatives have banded together to attempt to stop McCarthy from obtaining the 218 votes required to unseat departing Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Additionally, they have committed to consider whatever concessions McCarthy gives and have promised not to be targeted by him one at a time.
Hoyer said, “We’ll see,” when asked whether McCarthy had what it takes to be Speaker.
Hoyer said that if McCarthy wins the race, it would demonstrate that he can at least work hard in the face of difficulty.
Hoyer told CNN that “he definitely has the potential to pull together the votes to be the leader of the Party” if he receives 218 votes. “And he will then be put to the test to see whether he can lead or not.”
But, you know, he’s put a lot of effort into it. He had to take a step back once he came too near to the Holy Grail. He persisted rather than giving up. Furthermore, it seems to me that he will serve as Speaker.
McCarthy and Hoyer, according to Hoyer, have a solid “working relationship.”
In return for his own election to the role of House Speaker last week, McCarthy suggested a rule change that would make it simpler to remove a Speaker, a demand from powerful GOP opponents.
McCarthy’s plan would empower any House member to force a vote to remove the Speaker at any time. Currently, only a member of the House leadership may introduce a resolution to remove the Speaker.
According to procedures put in place by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, only members of the House leadership are now permitted to do this.
McCarthy needs at least 218 votes to become speaker, but given the Republican Party’s tenuous hold on 222 seats in the House, any new defections might hurt his prospects.
Although it is unknown how many GOP members would need to support the resolution, he noted how rank-and-file members may demand for the speaker’s dismissal during his meeting with them.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer earlier on Sunday said he would be astonished if Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy wasn’t chosen by his party to become the next Speaker, but he avoided addressing whether or not he is capable of doing the job.
On Sunday morning, Representative Hoyer said to CNN’s State of the Union, “I would be amazed if he doesn’t [win]. “I anticipate he’ll be Speaker,”
Republicans will regain a majority in the lower house of the next Congress, but not in the Senate, when it begins on Tuesday, January 3.
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