- McCarthy suggested that Republicans could take control of the House in January if it isn’t unified.
- On Newsmax, the Californian cautioned against the GOP playing “games” on the House Floor.
- McCarthy is trying to gather votes from GOP members to help him lead the lower chamber.
Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader, warned his fellow Republicans against his speakership. He said that Democrats could pick the next speaker if they don’t stick together. The California lawmaker is continuing his efforts to gather the votes necessary to lead the lower chamber in January.
During an interview on the Newsmax program “Spicer & Co.” featuring former White House press secretary Sean Spicer and journalist Lyndsay Keith, McCarthy Republicans would have to be unified in setting their legislative agenda in order to successfully counter the policies of President Joe Biden.
“We must speak together. If we all work together, we will be successful. Otherwise, we will lose. This is very fragile — that we are the only stopgap for this Biden administration. The Democrats will take the majority if we don’t do it right. He said that if we play games on this floor, the Democrats might end up choosing who the speaker is.”
The 2022 midterm elections saw Republicans farewell most of their expectations. They flipped the House from Democrats, but were poised to retain a razor-thin 222-213 majority next Year, with almost every race being called. While Republicans were expecting to pick up many seats, their candidates failed in many swing areas and the House control was not decided until days after November 8th’s general election.
McCarthy, who earlier this month won against Republican Rep. Andy Biggs (188-31) to head the House Republican Conference in Arizona, was defeated. The GOP leader must win majority support on House floor when new Congress reconvenes January.
Republicans have just a few votes to overtake the 218-vote threshold required to control the House. At the moment, five Republicans said that they would not support his speakership. Biggs, Bob Good of Virginia and Ralph Norman of South Carolina are all part of this group. Matt Rosendale from Montana is also part of that group. All of the potential floor holdouts are a part of the conservative Freedom Caucus, whose members sometimes gave major headaches to the last two GOP speakers — former Reps. John Boehner of Ohio and Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
Democrats on the other side are set to bring in a new group of leaders with Rep. Hakeem JeffreysNew York’s Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be succeeded by Pete Aguilar of California as House Democratic Leader. Rep. Katherine Clark, Massachusetts, and Pete Aguilar, California are expected to fill the top House Democratic leadership roles within the party.
In the last few weeks, many conservatives have Supporting McCarthy is crucial. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia, cautioned against the possibility that a few Republicans might join Democrats in choosing a moderate speaker.
McCarthy stressed that it would be crucial to address the concerns of all members of the House Republican Conference with such a small majority.
“You must listen to everyone at the conference. Five people on either side can block anything when you are in the majority. He said that Paul Ryan was defeated in the conference by more people than he wanted. Then they voted for him on floor.”
“We still have five weeks. Today we’re going over our conference rules. We want everyone to have an opportunity to contribute. I believe that calmer heads will win the day. McCarthy stated that we will all work together to find a way forward.
Although 218 votes are necessary to control the House of Representatives, a speaker may be elected with less votes. “Present” votes and vacant seats can lower the threshold to win the position.
Recent research has shown that InterviewThe Bulwark: GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Illinois, will be retiring at the conclusion of the current congressional sessions. predictedThat the party would have a “totally nonfunctional majority” in January.
“When there is a majority of 15, 20 people, it takes a lot to deny the future Speaker their votes. Kinzinger stated that it is possible to find it if it is just three, four or five people.
