A group of nine hardline GOP officials are reportedly withholding their support from House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy’s bid to become Speaker of the House, creating additional obstacles for him.
On Sunday, McCarthy addressed the group via conference call, according to Politico and CNN. Following that, the House GOP announced a package of temporary regulations that included a number of concessions.
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McCarthy would be the only speaker candidate to fall short in a century if he is not elected on the first ballot. It would be the first time since the Civil War that something similar occurred in Congress if voting involved many ballots, and took days to complete.
The nine lawmakers that continue to stay against McCarthy said in a letter that “there continue to be missing commitments with respect to virtually every component of our entreaties, and no means to measure whether promises are kept or broken.”
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The letter was signed by Reps. Scott Perry, Paul Gosar, Dan Bishop, Chip Roy, Andy Harris, Andrew Clyde; and Reps.-elect Andy Ogles, Anna Paulina Luna, and Eli Crane.
Politico reporter Olivia Beaver tweeted the full text of the letter:
The five “never Kevins” who have publicly declared they would not vote for McCarthy and the nine conservative members withholding support as they push for changes to House rules are the two primary groups in the Republican House caucus that could get in the way of McCarthy’s nomination.
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The “never Kevins” include Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Bob Good of Virginia, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Matt Rosendale of Montana.
The process for removing a House Speaker is one of the topics being debated, and some conservative hardliners want to make it much simpler. Currently, a party majority is required to demand a floor vote on removing the Speaker from their position.