Washington, D.C. – As expected, California Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy came up about 20 votes short Tuesday in each of the three ballots held to determine who the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives will be during the 108th Congress.
The opposition to McCarthy's elevation to the chamber's top post is not a surprise. Members of the self-styled Freedom Caucus, a group of legislators who pride themselves on being among the most conservative in the body, have been saying for days they would block his election.
Going into the vote, a handful of members had announced they'd be voting against his election. By the time the first vote was at an end, that number had grown to almost 20.
In the two subsequent ballots, the numbers did not change. With an absolute majority of the members present and voting needed for election, McCarthy won only 203 votes of the 218 needed. The opposition, which was fragmented on the first ballot among several alternatives, coalesced on the second and third ballots around Ohio Republican Jim Jordan, the founder of the Freedom Caucus, who is in line to become the next chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
Where Jordan falls on the issue of McCarthy becoming Speaker is unclear. Publicly, he has embraced the Californian's candidacy, voting for him on each ballot and giving a floor speech nominating him. Privately, say Capitol Hill insiders, he's been the choice of the dissidents all along, but to keep his hands clean has not been a participant of any kind in the effort to secure new leadership.
As the voting came to an end, it was not at all clear whether there was anything McCarthy could do to secure enough votes from those opposed to his election to make a difference. He has for several weeks now been meeting with them individually and in groups, acceding to their demands regarding how the House would be run and trying to mollify their concerns but to no avail.
The problem, these same insiders say, is that McCarthy can't be trusted, meaning the spat is personal, not business. Concerns about the debt ceiling and total federal spending as well as the need to return to regular order have been tossed about as being among the concerns of the dissidents, yet, down deep, the members who are voting “No” are believed to be doing so because they believe he cannot be trusted to keep his word.
This is an issue long in the making that cannot be quickly overcome. Nor can it be solved through the traditional kinds of deals regularly made on Capitol Hill. McCarthy's only option may be to withdraw his name from consideration, something that people on both sides of his campaign acknowledge but are unwilling to say in the open.
What is probably keeping him going is that while it is very easy for 220 people sitting in the same room to agree they don't want a specific individual to be in charge, it's much harder for those same people to agree on who should. Right now, with the voting on hold until noon Wednesday, Jordan looks like the alternative. But as a founder of the Freedom Caucus, even if he's not been an active participant in the anti-McCarthy campaign, there may be enough members of the GOP conference who hew towards the center to block his ascendance. Both sides can play hardball and the Republican moderates have been sending signals all along they're not willing to be rolled without complaint and without an effort at retaliation.
The other consideration that anyone who might want to be Speaker must consider is how much of the intrigue so much in evidence on the first day of the 118th Congress will continue over the next two years. Can anyone who assumes the speakership allow themselves to believe they are secure in the job? Or will they spend day after day on watch for the five members of the body who come to the floor seeking a vote on a motion to declare the chair vacant? Why would a reasonable person like Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., who is safely ensconced in the party's top position, want to trade the job he's just won for the ongoing headaches that come with the gavel?
He'd likely do it if asked, but only with the guarantee that members would behave and the backbiting that has been so prevalent within the House Republican Conference since the days Ohio's John Boehner was Speaker would come to an end. The dissidents might agree, but it would be a hard sell convincing Scalise or anyone else who is or who has been a part of the GOP leadership team in the House that they should be trusted.
A lot is riding on the outcome of this election. More perhaps than at any time in modern history. The Republicans' narrow majority in the House provides them with enough control on the levers of power in Washington to block most if not all of the progressive initiatives coming out of the Biden White House – but only if they hang together. Outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., understood power and how to use it, having been tutored in its exercise by some of the best parliamentarians to ever stride across the American political stage.
Her mentors, which included her father former Baltimore Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr., and legendary California U.S. Rep. Phil Burton, a legislative powerhouse who might one day have been elected Speaker had he not died a premature death in 1983, taught her the exercise of power is not for the faint of heart. In power, she was ruthless in pursuit of her objectives yet still managed to command the respect of the disparate interests within her caucus in ways that allowed the Democrats to prevail in close votes even when the issue under consideration was something way out on a limb.
It's not clear that McCarthy has the same stuff. Or anyone else in the Republican Conference, for that matter. Pelosi's a hard act to follow no matter who succeeds her. Who that will be is not something we know right now – which has raised a blemish on the one GOP bright spot coming out of the 2022 election. Who knows? Looking back in a few years, McCarthy – if he doesn't get the job – might decide losing the race for Speaker was the best thing that ever could have happened to him.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
READ NEXT: 3 Republicans Revealed to McCarthy They Wouldn't Mind if a Democrat Became Speaker >>
The reason the Republicans don’t care if the Democrats get the position is Republicans are just down outright lazy. They really are. That is why I stopped financially helping them months ago. They don’t deserve high positions in the government as far as I’m concerned. They just sit there waiting for someone else to get it done.
At this point I am done with supporting president Trump. He has made many blunders endorsing worthless RINOs, and supporting McCarthy now is another one. He did it with Romney, McConnell and now doing it again. His political instincts regarding throwing his support for the right people are nonexistent.
That shows that Pres Trump is not a politician and I consider that a Plus and am proud of him for the wonderful actions he took to protect our Country. He is NOT a damned Leftist Communist but instead a true American. That’s what should be the utmost importance in electing a President, Consider what’s in there now…the complete opposite of Pres Trump and look what the Biden regime has done to our Country in only 2+ years.
Go Byron Donalds Go
The Republicans are proving to the nation they can’t govern!!! There will be a Democratic majority for the foreseeable future thanks to the Republicans proving they can’t govern {thanks to Trump encouraging some NOT to talk with what they consider ‘the other side’}.