Republican dissidents blocked Kevin McCarthy in his bid to become US House speaker for a 10th time on Thursday, a historic standoff and one that has left the chamber paralyzed during the opening days of the New Congress.
(Bloomberg) — Republican dissidents blocked Kevin McCarthy in his bid to become US House speaker for a 10th time on Thursday, a historic standoff and one that has left the chamber paralyzed during the opening days of the New Congress.
The fight has left House Republicans fractured and without an immediate resolution. McCarthy’s sought to break the stalemate by offering of significant concessions on House rules that would weaken his power and his ability to control hard-liners in his party, which raise the risk of chaos on issues like the debt ceiling and government spending.
But after three days of voting, 20 of 222 Republicans held firm in their opposition to McCarthy, more than enough to deny him the majority he needs to be elected speaker.
Patrick McHenry, a key McCarthy ally in negotiations with the dissident faction, said he expects Republicans will attempt to adjourn for the day to allow negotiations to continue in private.
“I’m feeling very favorable about how this evening is going to come together,” McHenry said.
McCarthy’s back-to-back losses marked a post-Civil War record for the number of ballots needed to select a speaker. In 1923, Republican Frederick Gillett was elected to the post after nine ballots. The last multi-ballot speaker vote before that was in 1859, when 44 votes were needed.
Only six other speaker elections have taken more than 10 ballots.
A group of dissidents most interested in procedural changes has met with leadership and moderates throughout the day Thursday to broker a deal that can earn their votes.
Representatives Chip Roy, Scott Perry and Byron Donalds are spearheading the negotiations to procedural changes that could earn their votes. They are angling to open up floor procedures to amendment votes, forbidding giant packages of bills and to guarantee conservatives have more seats at the table on key committees.
The talks are being facilitated by McHenry, the incoming Financial Services chair, as well as the No. 3 Republican Tom Emmer and Jason Smith, a contender for the Ways and Means gavel.
Moderates led by Brian Fitzpatrick, co-head of the Problem Solvers Caucus, and Dusty Johnson, who heads the Main Street Caucus are in the room as well.
Ralph Norman, so far a hard no on McCarthy, has suggested he could switch his vote if he likes the deal. Norman particularly wants votes on term limits for lawmakers and a balanced budget, as well as a commitment to use a debt ceiling showdown later this year to cut spending.
Even if McCarthy gets a deal with these members, he could still fall short. Representatives Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert are among a small number who appear too dug in to negotiate. That opens up the possibility that the conservative Freedom Caucus get the changes they demand in exchange for another establishment candidate like Majority Leader Steve Scalise or Emmer.
One McCarthy ally suggested the haggling may extend through the weekend.
“We’re putting meat on the bones today,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s got to be a whole new rules package” and members should get 72 hours to read and digest it.
McHenry left closed-door talks late Thursday afternoon saying he was optimistic of getting a deal to secure McCarthy’s bid for speaker.
“I think we have the right contours that enable us to get Kevin McCarthy to have a majority vote,” McHenry said.
McCarthy has offered a group of GOP dissidents one of their biggest demands: lowering the threshold to bring a motion to oust a speaker to just one lawmaker, a person familiar with the talks said.
Under current parliamentary rules, it would take half of the House GOP to forward such a motion to remove the leader. Changing that to just one lawmaker would leave the speaker, the second-in-line to the presidency, facing potential repetitive attempts for removal.
The most hardcore dissidents have not been part of the latest horse trading, however. They include Gaetz and Boebert, as well as Andy Biggs and Bob Good. Matt Rosendale and Eli Crane are also part of that group. It would take only five opponents to continue to block McCarthy.
“We need to get to a point where we start evaluating what life after Kevin McCarthy looks like,” Boebert said on the House floor as she nominated Oklahoma Representative Kevin Hern as an alternative to McCarthy.
McCarthy had said earlier Thursday that he didn’t expect many votes would change but the two sides are still talking. The latest concessions show that, if he succeeds, he’s paying a steep price.
In 2015, a motion to vacate was filed against former Speaker John Boehner, a Republican who resigned from office before the vote was held.
McCarthy has also offered to meet demands to seat some far-right conservatives on plum committees, including at least two of them on the House Rules Committee; they had been seeking four.
In addition, additional budget and appropriations changes are being discussed, along with specific subcommittee chairmanships. Those changes will be difficult for appropriators — some of McCarthy’s biggest supporters — to swallow.
–With assistance from Emily Wilkins, Zach C. Cohen, Christian Hall, Laura Davison and Laura Litvan.
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