“Why didn’t we get McCarthy’s proposed rulemaking package at least 72 hours in advance?” tweeted Congressman Dan Bishop (RN.C.), a member of the Freedom Forum.
Choosing a speaker is usually a symbolic moment, with the vote decided weeks, if not months, ahead of time. But absent a sudden reversal among his opponents, McCarthy’s bid for the gavel would result in a historically rare showdown, marking only the second time since the Civil War that the race could go beyond a single ballot. Indeed, many Republicans are bracing for a vote that could last several days, as McCarthy’s allies vow to vote only for him and five conservatives vow to oppose him, with no clear alternative candidate.
The conservative Caucus for Growth released a notice of the speaker vote Monday, calling for McCarthy to be voted out — without specifically naming him — if he does not agree to various rules pushed by some of those who oppose him, many of whom are members from the freedom faction of the House.
Those lawmakers’ demands include allowing any member to force a vote in the House to remove a speaker. The Club for Growth also echoed those members’ calls to ban the Congressional Leadership Fund, a campaign committee closely associated with McCarthy, from “spending money or making grants to any Super PAC to participate in open primaries republican election or against any republican president’. The group also objected to the lack of “true conservatives” represented in the leadership.
McCarthy called a strategy session Monday night with dozens of his supporters. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) characterized the meeting as aimed at helping the California Republican ahead of Tuesday’s vote. One of McCarthy’s staunchest opponents, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), was also spotted entering McCarthy’s office with Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, and Rep. Lauren Bobert (R-Colo.), neither of whom has committed to voting for the California speaker.
Although he has yet to pick up the gavel, McCarthy spent Monday working outside the speaker’s office, a tradition routinely given to the president-elect. If he fails, he will have to move back out of the prestigious office.
Republicans are bracing for a long day on Tuesday. Congressman Kelly Armstrong (RN.D.), a McCarthy ally, predicted Republicans would go “however long it takes.” But the first vote will give some early indications of how the day will play out, he added.
“The way the alphabet works, you’ll find out pretty quickly the first time you vote. And then we’ll find out how it goes,” Armstrong said, referring to the alphabetical process for calling members to vote.
Meanwhile, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), whom McCarthy’s opponents are supporting as a figurehead for their frustration, described the Californian as “in full bargaining mode” but that he doesn’t believe McCarthy will “ever get to 218 votes.”
Others issued more cryptic insights: “Some people who campaign against the swamp sure wilt quickly in the face of the challenges (of varying degrees) to this swamp…” tweeted Congressman Chip Roy (R-Texas) on Monday.
But as McCarthy’s opponents take a hard line, some of his supporters are renewing their own threats.
McCarthy ally Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said Monday his previous warning — that a group of moderate Republicans would work with Democrats to pick a centrist GOP speaker if conservatives oppose McCarthy — remains on the table.
“If a few won’t be part of the 218 members we have to run, then we’ll find other ways to get to 218,” Bacon wrote in a Daily Caller op-ed.
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