Kevin McCarthy’s bid for Speaker picks up big bloc of votes, inching him closer to victory
Kevin McCarthy inched closer to the speakership that’s eluded him all week, picking up a significant number of votes Friday after making a series of concessions to the far right.
On the 12th ballot for speaker, the Bakersfield Republican earned 213 votes, five shy of the traditional majority he needs to become speaker. On a 13th ballot, he had 214, as Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., switched his vote to McCarthy
Seven Republicans opposed his first bid Friday, down from the 20 or 21 that had been against him all week, and six were opposed on the second vote.
After that vote, the House adjourned until late Friday night so that two absent members, both McCarthy supporters, could attend. Even with them, McCarthy would still be just short, but he and his supporters were confident they can prevail..
But winning new supporters required concessions that many lawmakers warned would make it difficult to run the House smoothly.
“It’s sad that they are hindering their own party,” Rep.-elect David Valadao, R-Hanford, said Tuesday.
New members saw nothing but disarray.
“We knew that there’d be some of this waiting for us, we still don’t know how much,” Rep.-elect John Duarte, a Modesto Republican, said Thursday.
“We’re all doing everything we can do,” he said, “but we want to get to real work.”
McCarthy’s offer reportedly includes allowing any member of Congress to “vacate the chair,” meaning any one person can at any time try to convince colleagues to oust the speaker. McCarthy also is expected to change the makeup of the Rules Committee, which controls what can come to the House floor, to allow more Freedom Caucus input.
“I think there’s fallout. I think it’s going to hurt all of us,” said Rep.-elect Don Bacon, R-Nebraska.
Where all this is likely to matter most is in two places.
Later this year, Congress is expected to have to increase the federal government’s debt limit. Conservatives have for years tried to keep the limit intact, arguing that raising it encourages more spending.
Freedom Caucus members have been adaman; they want meaningful spending cuts before any debt limit votes. That’s not likely to be popular in the Senate, where Democrats control 51 of the 100 seats.
The other flashpoint is likely to be the fiscal 2024 federal budget. The fiscal year begins Oct. 1, and without a budget, much of the government would shut down.
What makes many lawmakers shudder is the memory of what happened the last times a politically divided government couldn’t agree.
The government shut down briefly in 1981 when the Democratic House and Republican President Ronald Reagan were deadlocked over the budget.
In 1995 and 1996, with Democrat Bill Clinton in the White House, the Republican-led House again could not agree on a spending plan, and the government shut down twice. In 2013, again with a Democratic president, Barack Obama, and a Republican House, there was a 16-day shutdown.
And in 2018-19, the shutdown lasted a record 35 days when President Donald Trump, a Republican, and the Democratic-run Congress couldn’t agree on border wall funding.
This story was originally published January 6, 2023 at 11:09 AM with the headline "Kevin McCarthy’s bid for Speaker picks up big bloc of votes, inching him closer to victory."
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