It took nearly a week of intense behind-the-scenes drama, a near fight on the House floor, and 15 rounds of voting before Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) finally secured the support he needed to become speaker of the House.
In his quest for the coveted gavel, McCarthy was forced to make a lengthy list of concessions that ultimately watered down his own power in the lower chamber of Congress and gave the “Republican rebels” who stood in his way day after day a reason to celebrate.
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Concessions included empowering a single lawmaker to call for a vote to oust the speaker from his position at any time, as well as agreeing to allow floor votes on a border security bill.
McCarthy started the week with 21 holdouts, and by the time the House reconvened Friday at 10 p.m., he continued to lack the needed votes. Finally, after two dramatic roll calls, McCarthy was elected to his new post early Saturday, but some are wondering at what cost.
On Thursday night, Rep. French Hill (R-AR) and a group of hand-picked McCarthy allies met with conservative Republicans who had voted against him and attempted to sweeten the pot. The group included holdout Reps. Scott Perry (R-PA), Chip Roy (R-TX), and Byron Donalds (R-FL).
Hill called the visit “encouraging” and added that he felt like they had made “progress” but didn’t go into detail.
Louisiana Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA), another McCarthy negotiator, apparently promised conservatives earlier in the week that the House GOP would present a budget that balanced over the next decade and capped discretionary spending at fiscal 2022 levels.
Another provisional compromise McCarthy’s allies dangled was at least three seats on the powerful House Rules Committee. The committee decides which bills come to the floor, and having three conservatives would allow them to kill legislation key to President Joe Biden’s agenda.
McCarthy also offered to allow any member of the House to call for a vote to oust him, one of the holdouts’ original demands. He also pledged a vote on bills regarding term limits and other conservative priorities.
Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) told reporters Thursday that some of the McCarthy holdouts had also demanded subcommittee chairmanships, a request that ruffled more than a few feathers of lawmakers, including Aderholt, who had been in line for key appointments based on seniority.
The Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC aligned with McCarthy, also got involved, caving to demands from the conservative faction of the party not to interfere in open GOP primaries.
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The promise to stay on the sidelines earned McCarthy the support of the Club for Growth, an influential conservative group that had been opposing his candidacy.
But even though the holdouts eventually came around, to some rank-and-file Republicans, the concessions McCarthy made came at too steep a price and will force shutdown fights later this year.
