House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy met with several right-wing members of his party during a meeting on Tuesday as part of the California Republican’s latest efforts to scrounge up enough votes to become House speaker.
McCarthy met with a number of Republican lawmakers and caucus chairs during a meeting on Tuesday to discuss GOP conference rules that are set to be voted on later Wednesday. During that meeting, the House minority leader also sought to court a number of members of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus who have publicly vowed to vote against his speakership.
WHY 218 MAY NOT BE THE MAGIC NUMBER FOR KEVIN MCCARTHY TO BECOME SPEAKER
To secure his bid as House speaker, 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 most recent projections suggest the GOP will hold a 222-213 advantage in the House for the next two years, giving McCarthy little room for error.
However, conversations behind closed doors indicate the House minority leader may have his work cut out for him, with “as many as 10” Republicans saying they’ll vote against his speakership, according to Freedom Caucus ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
At least five GOP lawmakers have publicly said they won’t back his speakership bid, which may be enough to sink his chances when the House meets to vote on Jan. 3. That group includes Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), who previously left some wiggle room for McCarthy to capture his vote but left the conference meeting on Tuesday with a firm “no.”
“I will be voting for an alternative candidate,” Good told Axios. “I will not be voting for Kevin McCarthy.”
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Other Republicans who have publicly vowed to vote against McCarthy include Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Ralph Norman (R-SC), and Matt Rosendale (R-MT).
However, McCarthy is still holding out hope, telling reporters on Tuesday he won’t back out if his first vote fails — vowing to take the process through several ballots before dropping out.
“At the end of the day, we’ll get there,” he said.
