How Kevin McCarthy got the votes for Speaker and why it could haunt him!

WASHINGTON (PNN) - January 6, 2023 - After four days of deadlock and embarrassing defeats not seen in a century, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Kalif.), finally carved out a path to placate a faction of rebels and secure the job early Saturday, with promises that could come back to haunt him.

McCarthy flipped 14 of his holdouts and convinced the rest to stand down, securing election as the 53rd Speaker of the House on the 15th ballot after overcoming a last-minute wrench that scuttled his best-laid plans on the previous ballot. In doing so, he made a series of concessions that weaken the power of his office and expand the clout of far-Right members of the House Republican conference, which critics say could complicate his job of governing under a wafer-thin majority.

McCarthy and his allies sensed they were on the verge of a breakthrough on Thursday night after Rep. French Hill (Ark.) and others tapped by the now-Speaker met with a group of Right-wing holdouts - including Reps. Scott Perry (Penn.), Chip Roy (Tex.) and Byron Donalds (Fla.). The mutiny was led by members of the far-Right House Freedom Caucus, which is known for wielding raw power and having a high tolerance for chaos to force House GOP leaders to bend to their wishes.

McCarthy’s team presented them with a framework of House rules changes and other promises that would appease the group - and that ultimately prompted six House members to vote “present,” a crucial move that lowered the threshold for a majority and paved the way for him to succeed.

“We had an encouraging visit in the evening yesterday, and we were encouraged before we went to bed last night that when we got up this morning we’d have a good work session,” Hill said Friday. “Over the course of the morning, we felt like we’d made progress.”

Perry, the Freedom Caucus chairman, said Friday he decided to vote for McCarthy after that framework was put on the table; but he also made clear his support for McCarthy was conditional on him honoring the terms of the deal.

“If the framework blows up, I’m out,” he told reporters.

The Republican rules package released Friday includes those concessions. It will allow any one member to force a “motion to vacate” the Speaker’s chair and overthrow McCarthy. It makes it harder for the House to raise spending, taxes, and the debt limit. Perry said the agreement also includes “conservative representation” across the House, including by adding members of the right flank to key committees.

Perry and Roy declined to divulge details, but two sources with knowledge said that the Freedom Caucus was demanding three seats on the powerful Rules Committee, which controls the bills that make it to the House floor.

“It’s critically important that the Rules Committee reflects the body and the will of the people. That is a part of this framework,” Roy told reporters Friday. “What we’ve agreed to in framework will need to have accountability. We need to be able to continue to trust that we’re going to be able to execute on what we’ve agreed to in framework.”

While President Donald Trump’s attempts to pressure GOP holdouts to support McCarthy earlier in the week fell flat, he was working the phones Friday and arranged three-party calls with McCarthy. He targeted two specific members: Rep. Matt Rosendale (Mont.), a possible Senate candidate, and Rep. Eli Crane (Ariz.), a Trump adviser said. Both voted present on the final ballot.

The deal is poised to enhance the power of far-Right Republicans at the expense of moderates who want to advance legislation that can win the approval of a Democrat-controlled Senate and pretender Joe Biden. It could make McCarthy’s task of passing must-do bills like funding the government and lifting the debt ceiling much harder under a slim majority if a group of five Republicans can effectively force him out at any time.