McCarthy and McConnell on collision course as Congress barrels toward messy finish
By Manu Raju and Melanie Zanona, CNN
Updated 12:37 AM EST, Wed December 14, 2022
House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy took to Fox News primetime last week and dinged his counterpart across the Capitol: Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell.
Republicans are “wrong” if they want to cut a year-end spending deal with Democrats, McCarthy told Fox News host Laura Ingraham, saying they should instead punt the issue until 2023 when Republicans take control of the House.
“Does that include McConnell?” she asked.
“Yes,” McCarthy said. “Why would you want to work on anything if we have the gavel inside Congress?”
McCarthy’s comment blindsided McConnell, according to multiple senators. While the House GOP leader had signaled privately – including at a White House meeting – that he’d be open to a large spending deal to finish this year’s business, Republicans were not expecting him to take aim at McConnell even if he publicly came out against the package. But as McConnell continually worked behind the scenes to cut a massive funding deal – effectively clearing McCarthy’s decks for the next Congress – the House GOP leader increasingly voiced his strong opposition against it.
“Hell no,” McCarthy told House Republicans about his position on the spending package – just a few hours before McConnell declared on Tuesday that the deal in the works was “broadly appealing.” House Republicans were the lone caucus not to endorse Tuesday night’s spending agreement backed by top House and Senate Democrats and Senate GOP leaders.
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https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/13/politics/kevin-mccarthy-mitch-mcconnell-collision-course/index.html
