McCarthy’s Bid for House Speaker Remains Uncertain

McCarthy’s Bid for House Speaker Remains Uncertain

Newt Gingrich Shreds the Never-McCarthy House Republicans

Newt Gingrich Shreds the Never-McCarthy House Republicans on Fox News: They’ve Got a ‘Psychological Problem’

McCarthy HUMILIATED as Matt Gaetz Becomes De Facto SPEAKER!!!

BY BOB ADELMANN

SEE: https://thenewamerican.com/mccarthys-bid-for-house-speaker-remains-uncertain/;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Despite the issuance of new House rules and a conference call by Representative Kevin McCarthy on Sunday night, the number of “Never Kevins” has grown from five to 14.

The proposed rules include giving Republicans a “vote of confidence” rule that would allow five or more members the power to move to “vacate the chair.” The original group of five “Never Kevins” are demanding that that motion may be made by just one member.

The proposed rules also would allow lawmakers to insert in a spending bill moves to reduce and not increase government spending, along with the power to reduce salaries of government officials or to fire them. They include a move to allow lawmakers 72 hours to read a bill before voting on it and to create a committee to investigate the weaponization of the FBI and the CIA against American citizens.

In addition, they would end proxy voting and Zoom committee meetings. It also would move to put term limits on members of the Office of Congressional Ethics, which would immediately remove all but one Democrat from that committee.

McCarthy himself acceded to demands that he move to oust Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and give conservative firebrand Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) membership on the coveted Oversight Committee. In addition, McCarthy offered to investigate the “select” January 6 committee, scrutinizing specifically the failure of the committee to address security breakdowns that allowed violence to get out of hand.

In spite of these verbal concessions, there was no movement by the original five “Never Kevins” and precious little that McCarthy was hoping to count on from the other nine. Not long after the late Sunday night conference call, the nine put out a letter to their colleagues announcing that any concessions McCarthy said he would make were still insufficient: “Thus far, there continue to be missing specific commitments with respect to virtually every component of our entreaties, and thus, no means to measure whether promises [by the House Speaker] are [being] kept or broken.” 

Adding to McCarthy’s woes was the announcement from the anti-tax group Club for Growth that it would score negatively any member of the party who votes for McCarthy.

The House opens at noon on Tuesday, with the first order of business, after administering the oaths of office to the members, being a vote for speaker of the House. If the vote fails to give McCarthy a majority of those present, it would be the first time since 1923 when the first vote failed to nominate the House speaker. In that year, it took nine ballots before a candidate for speaker gained a majority vote. 

Related article:

No Shoo-in for Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker

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McCarthy Falls Short in Second Vote for House Speaker

BY MATT MARGOLIS

SEE: https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/matt-margolis/2023/01/03/breaking-first-house-vote-for-speaker-ends-in-stalemate-n1658231;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

Update 5:58 p.m. ET: The House has adjourned after failing to elect a Speaker of the House. The third vote saw 20 Republican votes against McCarthy, not 19. The House will reconvene on Wednesday at noon and try again.

Update 4:05 p.m. ET: Kevin McCarthy has just lost the second round of voting for House speaker, falling short by the same number as the first vote. While multiple alternative candidates shared a cumulative 19 votes in the first round, in the second vote, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) received all of the 19 votes. Democrats once again voted unanimously for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. The latest vote will certainly put pressure on McCarthy to step aside for a consensus Republican candidate.

Original story:

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy failed to obtain the necessary 218 votes to become the next House speaker during the first vote on Tuesday.

Reps. McCarthy (R-Calif.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), and Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) split most of the votes, but no candidate received more than half of the vote (218) which is required to win the election. It has been nearly a century since the majority party failed to elect a speaker on the first vote, explains Fox News.

Given that some Republicans have previously declared their opposition to McCarthy, it was widely expected that he would need more than one round of voting to win the gavel.

A group of five conservatives led by Biggs and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has publicly stated that they will not support McCarthy under any circumstances and have called on him to stand down to make room for a more viable candidate.

“It’s true we struggle with trust with Mr. McCarthy, because time and again his viewpoints, his positions, they shift like sands underneath you,” Gaetz told reporters before the vote. “If you want to drain the swamp, you cannot put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise.”

However, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) says McCarthy has earned the position of Speaker. “Under Kevin McCarthy’s leadership, House Republicans crafted a bold vision to put America back on track,” she said.

In other news, the GOP is dysfunctional.