In acceding to the Freedom Caucus House Republican demands….
Rep. Kevin MCarthy has put himself on the line……
I’m sure none of this cross party serious manoeuvring will actually happen…..
But?
A McCarthy spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on whether he was concerned about Democratic attempts to boot him from the speakership.
The use of the motion to vacate could end up being a test of progressive power in this Congress, as some enter their first term in the House minority. Some liberal Democrats said they viewed it as one of their many options to resist the Republican majority.
“All of these procedural mechanisms here are merely tools, and so it’s about when it’s appropriate to reach for a certain tool,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). “It’s really a matter of when it may be appropriate.”
In some ways, the threat are reminiscent of the hard-line tactics used by the Freedom Caucus to disrupt the House’s operations. Except this time, unlike their colleagues on the right, progressive lawmakers are ready to deploy that strategy against the opposing party rather than their own leadership, whom they’ve unanimously backed so far.
And they recognize their limited power to frustrate McCarthy, too.
“I wouldn’t just use it just to use it as a symbolic-type thing,” said Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), adding they’d still need “the votes to actually make it work” but that it’s “not off the table.”….
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And there’s a simple logic to Democrats wanting to stay out of it: Why intervene when they can watch the Republican infighting from the sidelines and bide their time waiting for the 2024 elections?
“Well, we might,” said Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.). “It depends on where we are, but I think it’s really going to be a question of how McCarthy navigates it within his own caucus. And whether he’s actually the speaker or just in-name-only speaker because he’s reliant on any one member at any time.”