Spencer will have the official vote later today. The
time has come for House Republicans, with their meager majority, to
decide who will preside as the speaker for this new session of Congress.
It has not been a smooth ride for presumptive House Speaker Kevin
McCarthy (R-CA), who is facing a mini-rebellion among his members,
though one large enough to cause total mayhem if the current camps hold
their lines. Five Republicans—Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and Reps. Matt Gaetz
(R-FL), Bob Good (R-VA), Ralph Norman (R-SC), and Matt Rosendale
(R-MT)—have already voiced their opposition to McCarthy. That would be
enough to derail things for the California Republican and make the GOP
an even bigger laughingstock after blowing one of the most winnable
elections in recent memory.
Does McCarthy have the votes? That’s the lingering question floating
around Capitol Hill for weeks. It was one thing when everyone was
whining about former House Speaker John Boehner, who had detractors who
threatened to fire him. But they were never successful, nor were they
serious attempts. With McCarthy, this feels different as the times have
changed. There are more independent conservatives who will do what they
think is right and have zero cares to give regarding political fallout.
With zero-hour approaching, the chance for mayhem
feels more significant than it was under Boehner’s speakership. These
shenanigans could end with an even more humiliating result for the GOP
than their 2022 election results: a Democratic House Speaker presiding
over a Republican House majority.
Via Politico:
Kevin
McCarthy has already moved into the speaker’s office, even as an
influential conservative group urges members to vote against him unless
he concedes to key rules changes.
With the House
slated to start voting on who will command the gavel in less than 24
hours, McCarthy remains short of the necessary 218 votes. And his
last-ditch efforts, including a long list of concessions he released to
his conference over the weekend, has done little to sway his most ardent
detractors.
And even as McCarthy predicted concessions he made to
the House rules are helping him pick up support, his opponents and
skeptics spent Monday lobbing new criticisms his way.
“Why
didn’t we get McCarthy’s proposed rules package at least 72 hours in
advance?” tweeted Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), a Freedom Caucus member.
Electing
a speaker is typically a symbolic moment, with the vote decided weeks
if not months ahead of time. But absent a sudden flip among his
detractors, McCarthy’s bid for the gavel will prompt a historically rare
showdown, marking just the second time since the Civil War that the
race could go beyond one ballot. In fact, many Republicans are bracing
for votes that could last multiple days, as McCarthy’s allies vow to
only vote for him and five conservatives promise to oppose him, with no
clear alternative candidate.
McCarthy met briefly
with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), one of his most ardent opponents, as well
as Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), neither of
whom have committed to voting for the California Republican.
But
while Gaetz quipped heading into the meeting that they could be on “the
verge of a New Year’s miracle,” he said afterward that the talk was
“brief and productive” — and, critically, that he and five others are
still “no” votes.
[…]
The fresh
signs of trouble come as McCarthy convened a strategy session on Monday
evening with dozens of his supporters. The meeting, according to GOP
attendees, was meant to motivate his backers, as they gathered in the
speaker’s office for the first time, and McCarthy vowed to fight no
matter how many ballots it takes.
“There’s still a
few things up in the air,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), who
attended the meeting. “[But] I think he gets there. The question is
when.”
Despite not yet having a lock on the gavel, McCarthy is
spending Monday working out of the speaker’s office, a tradition
routinely granted to the speaker-elect. If he falls short, he would have
to move back out of the prestigious office.
A
parliamentary rule in the House of Representatives called the "motion
to vacate the chair" is playing a major role in Minority Leader Kevin
McCarthy's (R-CA) bid to become speaker of the House.
A
motion to vacate is a parliamentary procedure similar to a vote of no
confidence in which members of the body can submit a request for the
presiding officer to step down. McCarthy reportedly told his
conservative naysayers this week that he would lower the number of
members needed to bring forth a motion to vacate and force a vote on the
House floor.
As the rule currently stands, half of
the House GOP would have to vote to bring forward a motion to remove a
leader. McCarthy has apparently agreed to lower that number to "less
than five," according to CNN. This may not be enough to appease his most
ardent critics, who reportedly want just one member to be able to force
a vote on the speaker's suitability. However, the centrist wing of the
GOP has suggested they don't want to lower the threshold to less than
50.
While voters are not enthralled with Joe
Biden or his policies, they were wary of a GOP majority susceptible to
volatility. Voters saw that 2022 was a choice between pickled herring
and rotten shark—both suck. Yet, while Democrats peddle unpopular
economic policies that have hammered working families, stability is more
appealing than pandemonium, which they feared in a Congress with
significant Republican majorities. If McCarthy’s speakership vote
becomes a total shambles, it would only reinforce that sentiment.
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