House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., listens as other members speak during his press conference on government funding for fiscal year 23 on Wednesday, December 14, 2022. .
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WASHINGTON — As the House prepares to open the 118th Congress and Republicans win a new majority on Tuesday, Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy is struggling to secure enough support for his bid to be speaker. of the House to avoid a historic and protracted war in the House.
The California congressman has been lobbying for months and has made some concessions to a small but outspoken bloc of conservatives. But the efforts have yet to produce a breakthrough. McCarthy needs to be elected Speaker of the House in the first round of voice voting, which is expected to take place shortly after noon ET.
To be elected speaker, McCarthy needs the support of a majority of members voting on Tuesday, or 218 of the 434 House members expected to vote. But with a total of just 222 Republicans and no Democrats voting for him, McCarthy could lose just four members in his caucus.
As of Tuesday morning, six incumbent Republicans and three elected, all conservatives, Still openly protesting McCarthy. McCarthy also faced months of organized opposition from influential outside conservative groups. amplification his criticisms on social media.
McCarthy’s failure to win public support from his entire caucus cast a shadow over the new Republican majority, exposing decades of division within the party. The difference was deepened by former President Donald Trump, who encouraged a small group of ultra-conservatives.
Trump ended up supporting McCarthy’s bid for the speaker position, as did other influential conservatives like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
House Republicans began Tuesday morning with a closed-door meeting seen as McCarthy’s last chance to convince members who may be running into roadblocks.
Entering the meeting, McCarthy emphasized a confident tone.
“We’re going to merge the team,” he told Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman.
However, judging from early statements by key Republican supporters, conservatives had a long list of demands that they believed McCarthy had failed to meet.
Meanwhile, House Democrats are openly amused by the internal turmoil that is rocking the opposition.
“We are certainly seeing chaos today in Congress, and this is an extension of the extremism we’ve seen from the GOP,” said incoming Minority Representative Katherine Clark, D-Mass., said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”.
She accused McCarthy of “throwing away her moral compass.”
This is a developing story, please check back for updates.
