A look at the latest GOP holdouts McCarthy hopes to sway
Six elected GOP members remained opposed to McCarthy as he sought to garner enough support Friday night to become the next House speaker.
Supporters were working to win a pair, which would almost certainly give McCarthy the majority he needs to finally win the job after four days of voting and the most rounds of voting for a Speaker of the House since from before the Civil War.
All six have been quite critical of McCarthy, although flip-flopping is not uncommon in Washington. Even if some do vote present, it could give McCarthy the margin he needs to win.
A look at the resistors:
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks with U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) on the House floor during the vote for a new president on the third day of the 118th Congress on Capitol Hill USA in Washington, January 5, 2023.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Andy Biggs of Arizona is the former chairman of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus. Not only did he challenge McCarthy during an internal GOP primary vote for House speaker, but he was also a candidate himself in Tuesday’s first round of voting. He won only 10 votes.
Biggs was re-elected to a fourth term in the House after serving 14 years in the Arizona Legislature. In Congress, he has built a reputation as a staunch defender of Donald Trump and a border enforcement hawk, introducing articles of impeachment in the last Congress against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. McCarthy took up the cause in his push to become House speaker, saying that if Mayorkas did not resign, the GOP-led investigations could lead to impeachment proceedings.
Biggs was also one of four lawmakers referred to the House Ethics Committee after they challenged subpoenas from the House panel investigating the January 6, 2021, uprising.
US Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) nominates former President Donald Trump as Speaker of the House as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) watch over the House of the Chamber on the third day. of the 118th Congress at the United States Capitol in Washington, USA, January 5, 2023.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
Florida’s Matt Gaetz has been perhaps McCarthy’s harshest critic, to the point that Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill. Friday debate Gaetz has consistently portrayed McCarthy as a Washington insider, calling McCarthy “the LeBron James of special interest fundraising in this city.”
Gaetz is a close Trump ally who broke with him early on when it comes to McCarthy. The House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into Gaetz in April as federal prosecutors probed sex-trafficking allegations against him. Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
“If you want to drain the swamp, you can’t put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise,” Gaetz said of McCarthy.
U.S. Rep.-elect Lauren Boebert (R-CO) delivers a speech on the House floor during the second day of the Speaker of the House election at the U.S. Capitol building on January 4, 2023 in Washington , DC.
Win Mcnamee | Getty Images
Lauren Boebert of Colorado is another Trump loyalist who established herself as a crowd pleaser in Washington during his first term. He won a second term this year in a much closer race than expected, as his aggressive use of social media and willingness to engage in personal disputes were tested against a Democratic challenger running as a non-partisan problem solver.
Boebert noted this week that “his favorite president,” a reference to Trump, has called on anti-McCarthy stalwarts to “end this,” but suggested an alternative.
“I think it really needs to be reversed. The president needs to say to Kevin McCarthy, ‘Sir, you don’t have the votes and it’s time to step down,'” he said.
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 3: Rep.-elect Bob Good (R-VA) arrives on the House floor at the Capitol before members of the 117th Congress are sworn in on January 3, 2021 in Washington, DC. Both chambers hold special Sunday sessions to open the new Congress on Jan. 3, as required by the Constitution. (Photo by Bill Clark – Pool/Getty Images)
Swimming pool | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Virginia’s Bob Good won office in 2020 after GOP voters ousted Republican incumbent Denver Riggleman, who had angered social conservatives by officiating gay marriage.
Good, a former athletics official at the evangelical Liberty University, was one of the first to say he would oppose McCarthy, and that opposition continued until Friday when he wrote an op-ed in The New York Times declaring that he would not back down. .
“Throughout this process, one thing has become clear: Kevin McCarthy has not earned the trust of the entire Republican conference to be the leader who will fight to change the status quo in Washington. It’s time for Republicans to move on.” he wrote.
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 6: US Rep.-elect Matt Rosendale (R-MT) (C) speaks with Rep.-elect Mark Green (R-TN) (R) and John Leganski, deputy chief of staff to the Republican leader of the House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on the House floor during the fourth day of the Speaker of the House election at the US Capitol building on January 6, 2023 in Washington, DC. The House of Representatives meets to vote on the next speaker after House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) failed to get more than 218 votes in multiple ballots; the first time in 100 years that the president was not elected on the first ballot. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Matt Rosendale of Montana is entering his second term in the House and says his constituents are pressuring him to change leadership in Congress. He has backed the former Trump’s false statements about fraud in the 2020 election and recently voted against U.S. support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, citing what he said are more pressing security needs on the southern border.
“I have said all along that I will not support anyone for speaker who has been part of the leadership team that has managed the demise of our country over the last 10 years,” Rosendale said.
Eli Crane of Utah is a former Navy SEAL who went on five wartime deployments and served for 13 years. In November, he defeated Democratic incumbent Tom O’Halleran, who had held the seat since 2017. On Friday, he was the only Republican freshman to deny McCarthy an endorsement.
Crane has run a small business that turned spent machine gun ammunition into bottle openers and had Trump’s endorsement. He focused his campaign on securing the US-Mexico border and electoral integrity.
– Associated press
McCarthy backer encouraged to boost support for GOP leader
U.S. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) (2nd R) speaks with Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) and other representatives as they vote for Speaker of the House on the first day of the 118th Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol building on January 3, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Win Mcnamee | Getty Images
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., said he was pleased with House Republicans’ growing support for McCarthy after days of closed-door negotiations.
“I feel very optimistic after today and after the conversations, I was privileged to have some people who had not been able to vote for Kevin join Kevin,” the Tennessee Republican told reporters outside the chamber of the Chamber.
Fleischmann said he spoke with Reps. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., and Andy Harris, R-Md., whom he called “dear friends.”
“They came to yes like other people,” he said. “I don’t want to say I’d take all the credit for it, but they came on board and I’m very happy to think that’s beneficial.”
McCarthy picked up 14 new votes Friday for a total of 214 before the House adjourned until 10 p.m.
— Chelsey Cox
House Democratic Whip Tells Lawmakers to Get Ready for the Night
Incoming Democrat Katherine Clark (D-MA) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, US on December 13, 2022.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
Katherine Clark, D-Massachusetts, told lawmakers to prepare for the night if McCarthy wins the coveted gavel.
Here’s the memo he sent to the Democratic caucus ahead of the House votes tonight:
All members must be present in the room at 22:00 to vote.
Tonight, after prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, the next order of business is for the House to vote on the 14th roll call vote on the election of the Speaker of the House. If the President is elected and takes the oath of office, he will administer the oath to the members and delegates. Members are advised that additional votes may be cast if no candidate receives 218 votes.
If the Speaker is elected and deputies are sworn in, the House is expected to begin an hour of debate on H.Res. __ – Approval of the Regulations of the 118th Congress, and for other purposes.
Following the debate on the rules package, approximately between 1:45 and 2:15 am, the House will vote on the previous question, the compromise motion and the adoption of the rules package. These would be the last votes of the day.
Members are reminded that they should be prepared to remain in Washington, DC until a President is elected.
– Dawn Kopecky
House Democrats decry GOP deadlock over speaker selection
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) speaks as members share memories of the first anniversary of the storming of the Capitol at the Cannon House office building in Washington, Jan. 6, 2022.
Mandel Ngan | Swimming pool | Reuters
House Democrats have weighed in on the lengthy voting process for the speaker of the US House, who will enter his 14th round on Friday night. The House adjourned after GOP leader McCarthy again failed to meet the threshold required to win the speakership.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., told CNBC that Republicans’ inability to pick a speaker “means that all . . .