Frustration swirls in House GOP over McCarthy Speakership opposition
by Emily Brooks - 12/08/22 6:00 AM ET
Frustration and anxiety are bubbling up among House Republicans over opposition to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for Speaker from a small group of hard-line conservative GOP members that threatens to keep him from the gavel.
McCarthy allies lined up at the mics to voice support for him at an internal House Republican Conference meeting on Tuesday. And they are starting to trade barbs with the McCarthy opponents: “We’re not going to be held hostage,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said.
Both the Republican Governance Group, a caucus of more center-leaning members formerly known as the Tuesday Group, and the Main Street Caucus, a group of pragmatic governance-minded Republicans, have released letters in recent days urging their House Republican colleagues to support McCarthy. The former group urged Republicans to “put posturing aside.”
“This Conference cannot handcuff itself to a burning building before we gavel in the 118th Congress,” Republican Governance Group Chairman Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) said in a statement.
Five vocal House Republicans explicitly have said or strongly indicated they will not support McCarthy for Speaker in a Jan. 3 floor vote: Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Ralph Norman (S.C.), Matt Rosendale (Mont.) and Bob Good (Va.). Several others, including House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry (Pa.) and Rep. Chip Roy (Texas), have criticized current leadership’s position on rules change proposals that would empower individual members, but are not revealing how they plan to vote on Jan. 3.
With Republicans heading into the 118th congressional session with a slim majority of 222 to Democrats’ 212 and one vacancy, their opposition has the potential to keep McCarthy from getting the Speakership.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3766102-frustration-swirls-in-house-gop-over-mccarthy-speakership-opposition/
