On Sunday, House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) capitulated to the far-right faction of the Republican party by making the concessions in his campaign for speaker during a conference call, including making it easier to topple him as a speaker, CNN reported, citing multiple GOP sources who were on the call. However, after giving in to some of the right’s most hardline demands, McCarthy couldn’t secure the votes for the speakership. In fact, he now faces even more opposition.
As noted by CNN, “Republicans unveiled their rules package for the 118th Congress, which formalizes some of the concessions that McCarthy has agreed to. The House adopts its rules package only after it selects a speaker, which McCarthy has not locked down, so there could be additional compromises made in the coming days.’
In a letter signed by nine right-wing House members, they acknowledged the concessions that McCarthy has made in his quest for the speakership but made clear they don’t think he has gone far enough.
“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 are kept or broken,” the letter reads.
In the letter, the group is pushing to give a single lawmaker the power to call for a vote to topple the speaker, and they also want a commitment that leadership won’t play in primaries, among other things, CNN reported.
Since McCarthy can only afford to lose four votes on the House floor, it means he still has a lot of work to do before Tuesday.
As CNN reported, McCarthy had agreed to a rule allowing five people to trigger a vote to replace the speaker—which GOP moderates oppose. McCarthy told his members he does not know if he has the votes to secure the speakership on Tuesday despite his attempts to placate the hardliners.
