There is an issue with Kevin McCarthy. When Republicans regain control of the House in January, he will require 218 votes to become the new speaker. He doesn’t currently have that number, either.
Enter McCarthy ally and Kentucky Representative James Comer.
Comer tried to support McCarthy in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” over the weekend. He stated the following:
The bottom line is that we must give Kevin a chance. Many of these lawmakers, in my opinion, are irritated due to actions taken by John Boehner or Paul Ryan. Kevin McCarthy has never been given the opportunity to speak.
Take a chance on him! He’s not as awful as the two Republican speakers before him!
Which strikes me as a distinctly inadequate justification to employ when trying to persuade House Republicans that McCarthy is the best option. We are talking about the largest position in the House. I find it difficult to believe that the “give him a chance” justification genuinely persuades McCarthy sceptics.
And we are aware that five House Republicans have already declared their intention to vote against McCarthy’s election, at least as of right now.
Ralph Norman, a South Carolina congressman. Last week, Norman told Politico that he was a “hard” no on McCarthy and that he had no intention of voting present or skipping the speaker vote, both of which would have been less detrimental to McCarthy. (To win, McCarthy simply needs a simple majority of the members who are voting for speaker.)
2) Arizonan congressman Andy Biggs. Biggs stated of McCarthy that “I do not believe he will ever get to 218 votes, and I refuse to support him in his endeavour to acquire those votes” in an opinion piece that was published earlier this month. Biggs was soundly defeated by McCarthy in a vote for Republican conference leader earlier this month.
3) Florida’s Rep. Matt Gaetz. Gaetz publicly declared earlier this month that he wouldn’t support McCarthy and that he agreed with Biggs’ op-ed, stressing that “we have the numbers to make a change.”
4) Montanan Representative Matt Rosendale In a conversation on Twitter earlier this month, Rosendale criticised McCarthy for allegedly supporting top-down management. In his essay, Rosendale argued that “each Member of Congress has earned and deserves equal involvement in the legislative process.” “That can only happen if the House goes back to the procedures that were in place before Nancy Pelosi took over as speaker. Kevin McCarthy is not open to making those adjustments. Additionally, Rosendale told AWN that he would only support McCarthy in “exceptional situations.”
Rep. Bob Good of Virginia, number 5. Good previously stated to Newsmax that he would not back McCarthy and that he did not think the California congressman had the 218 votes necessary to take over as speaker of the House at the beginning of the following year.
McCarthy is now in a very precarious position as Republicans are anticipated to hold 222 House seats in the upcoming Congress as a result of those five. If all five of those members really cast “no” votes, as opposed to “present” votes or abstentions, McCarthy would lose their support.
Of course, McCarthy still has time to change his mind. McCarthy, though, has a problem if the “let’s give him a chance” defence is the strongest one he and his supporters can offer.