The infighting in the House Republican Caucus over who will replace outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) continues to focus on current Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). McCarthy was nominated by House Republicans last week in a closed-door session with far less than a unified voice. Although McCarthy has been nominated, he must still receive a majority vote from the entire House when the next Congress is sworn in on January 3.
On Friday, Donald Trump Jr. added to the ongoing GOP controversy by tweeting that Republicans working against McCarthy are “in effect empowering those who impeached Donald Trump.”
One of the dangerous scenarios being discussed by some conservatives involves a bloc of House Democrats joining with some Republicans who oppose McCarthy to reach a majority of 218 votes needed to install a more liberal Speaker.
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) directly challenged McCarthy in the nomination process. Biggs is an outspoken McCarthy critic and a member of the House Freedom Caucus. McCarthy won the nomination over Biggs by a vote of 188 to 31.
Several House Republican members of the Freedom Caucus have publicly said they will not support McCarthy under any circumstances. Along with Biggs, Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Bob Good (R-VA), Ralph Norman (R-NC), and Matt Rosendale (R-MT) are part of that group of McCarthy opponents.
The final GOP majority over Democrats in the next House is expected to be 222 to 213. That means it would only take five House Republicans to deny McCarthy the majority needed to become the next Speaker.
If no candidate receives a majority of the membership votes in the first ballot for Speaker, the roll is called again and voting continues until some candidate gets a simple majority. Only 14 times in the nation’s history has the election of a Speaker taken more than one vote, the last time being in 1923.
So in their quest to “own the establishment” by stopping Kevin McCarthy, Andy Biggs and others are actually in effect empowering those who impeached Donald Trump. This is a Democrat dream come true for a GOP Congress.
Genius move guys. https://t.co/SKQ0Kjl6GC— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) December 3, 2022
Trump Jr. added in his warning: “So in their quest to ‘own the establishment’ by stopping Kevin McCarthy, Andy Biggs and others are actually empowering those who impeached Donald Trump. This is a Democrat dream come true for a GOP Congress. Genius move guys.”
