Yea…Yea…..
The media stories about the count everyday among House Republicans…..
The power grabbing….
Forget it….
In the end?
House Republicans WILL make California Republican House member Kevin MCarthy the 2023 Speaker of the House….
They have NO other choice….
For McCarthy?
Getting the spot is going to be easy compared to keeping the spot….
One House Republican is criticizing his fellow GOP lawmakers for threatening to vote against House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s bid to become the next House speaker, maintaining that there is “no Plan B.”
Rep. David Valadao (R-CA) denied whispers that McCarthy might not have the majority support needed to secure the speaker’s gavel, arguing most Republicans in the House want to see him in the top leadership position. His comments come amid a growing opposition toward McCarthy’s speakership as some House Republicans have posed direct challenges to his nomination, with others quietly considering other contenders.
“There’s a lot of us out there,” Valadao told CNN on Wednesday. “I’m part of a group that’s been putting out a lot of letters to our colleagues, even on social media, that we’ll support McCarthy no matter what.”
To secure the gavel, McCarthy needs a majority of voting members — in this case, 218 lawmakers — to vote for him when his nomination goes before the entire House floor in January. The GOP will hold a 222-213 advantage in the House for the next two years, giving McCarthy little room for error.
At least five GOP lawmakers have publicly said they won’t back his speakership bid, and McCarthy can’t afford to lose more than four votes, or else he risks sinking his chances when the House meets to vote on Jan. 3. That list includes Reps. Bob Good (VA), Andy Biggs (AZ), Matt Gaetz (FL), Ralph Norman (SC), and Matt Rosendale (MT).
However, Valadao maintained there were enough votes for McCarthy to boost him above the required threshold…..
…
It’s not clear who Republicans would present as an alternative nominee to McCarthy, although Biggs has already announced a challenge to the minority leader’s bid.
If no candidate wins a majority of the votes cast during the roll call vote at the beginning of the Congress, the House will repeat the roll call until a speaker is elected. Congress has not had to repeat a roll call vote to elect a House speaker since 1923. McCarthy has vowed not to back down, noting he would go through several rounds of ballots until he wins the speaker position.
Note…
If I’m wrong?
Rep. Steve Scalise is the whispers…..
A group of lawmakers has approached No. 2 Republican Rep. Steve Scalise (LA) about running for House speaker in the next Congress should McCarthy’s bid fail, telling him to “just be ready,” sources familiar told Politico. Scalise could offer a more agreeable alternative to McCarthy, as the House minority leader has faced opposition from a handful of Republicans that has threatened to derail his speakership bid…
Were Congress like a lot of state legislatures, there would be a theoretical possibility of McCarthy (or a moderate Republican maverick who’s still acceptable to most of the House Republican Conference) somehow persuading enough Democrats to vote for his Speakership.
I think that, over time and space, there have been several state Speakers of the House and Presidents of the Senate who have not enjoyed unanimous (or even majority) support within their own caucuses but have owed their position to a bipartisan (or multipartisan) ad hoc coalition over successive election cycles.
But it’s hard for me to see how Kevin McCarthy, given his record and past statements, could somehow find enough Democratic Henry Gonzalezes, Zell Millers, Kyrsten Sinemas, Tom Dodds or Joe Liebermans in the 2023-25 U.S. House of Representatives to outweigh the defections of even a few House Freedom Caucus members.
And, while their position has given their voices some strength, I don’t think that Kevin McCarthy can somehow persuade the few remaining genuine Blue Dog Democrats to lift him to the Speakership. Too much water under the bridge.
Even without that kind of drag, I can’t think of another Republican (or Democrat) who could straddle the aisle successfully enough to win 218 votes.
The other theoretical possibility — a mirror image of my hypothesis above — is a Democrat able to peel off enough GOP votes (at least five) to keep the Speakership in Democratic hands.
He, he, he…..
My man DSD?
THAT is NOT gonna happen……
I’m sticking to my story…..
More Republicans Dig in for McCarthy
An increasing number of House Republicans are vowing they’ll only vote for Kevin McCarthy for speaker, and that they’ll keep doing so “as long as it takes,” Politico reports.
“Two lawmakers said that their group of roughly 70 members met on Thursday and came to the consensus that they were prepared to vote for McCarthy for as long as necessary, that they had ‘strong reservations’ about potential rules changes that the GOP leader is considering in order to shore up his support. “
“The two lawmakers said the group would pull support for rules changes if McCarthy were not ‘expediently’ elected as speaker.”
I think that in the end?
They fold to vote FOR McCarthy….
Just like the Progressive ‘Crew’…..
In the end?
They want to get good offices and committteee seats….
Soooooo…..
They look the other way and vote ‘Aye’…..
So much for the BS about McCarthy NOT Getting the spot….
I told ya so….
Listening to the speech, the only thing Qevin McCarthy has in common with Lincoln is his log.