McCarthy Offers Concessions to Help Speaker Bid

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Facts

  • Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) agreed to make concessions to the conservative wing of the GOP as he looks to secure the necessary votes to become House Speaker of the incoming Congress.
  • The Republican Conference is set to meet Tuesday to determine how many members will be present and how many votes McCarthy needs to become speaker. McCarthy held a video conference on Sunday and revealed the proposed rules package for the new GOP majority.
  • Republicans hold a slim majority in the House, and McCarthy can only afford to lose four GOP votes when the new Congress convenes to elect its speaker. There are currently nine Republicans who are skeptical of McCarthy, including five with “hard no” votes.
  • McCarthy's major concessions include lowering the threshold to force a vote of no confidence on House Speaker to five members as well as tightening House proxy-voting procedures — requiring members to vote in person.
  • The nine McCarthy-skeptics responded to McCarthy’s concession saying that progress had been made, but the terms are too vague. The conservative members want to restore the previous rule allowing one congressman to force a vote to remove the speaker.
  • It is still unclear as to whether McCarthy will secure a majority of present votes to become speaker. If this happens, the House will have to continue voting until someone secures a majority, which hasn’t happened since 1923.

Sources: FOX News, Rollcall, CNN, National Review, and Guardian.

Narratives

  • Conservative narrative, as provided by Daily Caller. While the GOP establishment wants members to just get in line for Kevin McCarthy, principled conservatives must take the lead and not allow McCarthy to become Speaker of the House. He has no conviction and will do whatever his wealthy donors ask of him. A Republican majority isn’t a victory if no meaningful change comes along with it, and McCarthy is the status quo politician.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by New York Post. The group of Republicans trying to thwart Kevin McCarthy’s speaker bid is only causing division within the party and are hurting their GOP colleagues. The overwhelming majority of House Republicans want McCarthy as their speaker, and a handful of conservative insurgents are causing problems with no rational reasoning.