The final hurdle in Republican Kevin McCarthy’s long quest to win the speakership grew even stronger Monday.
Nine Republican insurgents made the announcement after the California congressman made a series of concessions on Sunday and tried to shore up support from conservative hardliners. Republicans took control of the US lower house on Tuesday.
If he were to win the election for speaker, McCarthy could be just four votes short of his party’s slim majority, which would be one of the first orders of business for the new Congress.
The right demanded changes to House rules to make it easier to topple the Speaker, and increased representation for marginalized members in committees.
While the committee’s statement was acknowledged to be a few steps forward, it echoed McCarthy’s message during a conference call Sunday evening. Summary sheet Reached by Punchbowl News, they were unsure of what he was offering.
“Despite some progress, Mr. McCarthy’s report is an almost impossible delay in addressing persistent deficiencies,” said the letter, signed by Pennsylvania Congressman Scott Perry and eight colleagues. according to politics.
“Expressions of vague convictions reflected in many important points still under debate are insufficient.
“Until now, specific commitments have not been consistently found in each element of our requests, and thus, there is no way to measure whether promises are being fulfilled or broken.”
Published by McCarthy A 55-page set of proposed rules On Sunday, he sought the 218 votes needed to become Speaker.
The main sticking point appears to be a so-called motion to vacate, a House rule that allows members to challenge the speaker who has been vacated during the tenure of Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
The hardliners want to bring back the rule under previous Republican Speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan that any congressman or woman can initiate a vote to remove the speaker.
McCarthy said in his call on Sunday that “weeks of negotiations” had resulted in an “offer” for five House members to agree to the threshold.
But according to CNN, that wasn’t enough to appease Republicans.Kevin never was”, a fluid group of hardliners, including Florida Congressman Matt Gates, have said they will not support him under any circumstances.
Later on McCarthy’s call, Getz said he would “consider” any possibility of lowering the threshold to one, but the network reported that he did not believe it would be done.
McCarthy, CNN reported, told Gaetz that the rest of the Republican convention would not support such a move. “It’s not about me,” McCarthy reportedly said.
McCarthy’s other proposals would give lawmakers at least 72 hours before a bill comes to the right, creating a select committee to investigate the “weaponization” of the FBI and Justice Department.
A disappointing performance by Republicans in November’s midterms created a particularly rocky path to the speakership for McCarthy, whose most recent challenge in 2015 ended in defeat to Ryan.
Democrats and some Republican moderates have accused McCarthy of pandering to extremists and putting his own political ambitions ahead of the good of his party.
A Interview with the Guardian Last week, John Yarmuth, the outgoing chairman of the House Budget Committee, said he was open to repaying the U.S. debt for the first time in an effort to win concessions from Republican Joe Biden’s administration.
“My guess is that whoever the Speaker of the House is, they’re going to be so subjugated by radical members of their caucus that they can’t get anything done here. “I’m very concerned about default,” said Yarmuth, a Kentucky Democrat.
In a statement Sunday, Massachusetts Democrat Jim McGovern, chairman of the House Rules Committee, attacked McCarthy’s proposals as a “huge backward step.”
“Republican leaders are once again beholden to the most radical members of their own caucus,” he wrote.
In an interview on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Republican Adam Kinsinger of Illinois, who is standing down from the House, said McCarthy’s refusal to confront Donald Trump’s election lies allowed extremism to grow.
“He’s the reason Donald Trump is still a factor. He’s the reason there are still some crazy elements of the House, Kinzinger said.
McCarthy’s allies say there is still time to negotiate the rules package. A vote on them will be held later in the week after a Speaker is elected and sworn in.
