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Just In | The Hill 

Opposition to House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) for Speaker from a handful of Republican members has the potential to derail his bid and set a marker in history as the first multiple-ballot Speaker election in a century.

No matter what happens, the day is sure to hold surprises and plenty of political drama.

Here is what to know about the process for electing a House Speaker, the math to win nthe election on the floor, what happens if there is no winner and much, much more.

Understanding McCarthy’s math problem

House Republicans’ slim majority heading into the 118th Congress is putting McCarthy in a bind.

The House has 222 incoming Republicans, 212 incoming Democrats and one vacancy left by the death of Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Va.) shortly after his reelection. The special election to fill the vacancy for the solidly Democratic seat is on Feb. 21.

A majority of the whole House is 218 votes, and five or more Republican defections would put McCarthy below that threshold.

McCarthy is in trouble because five House Republicans — Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Bob Good (Va.), Matt Rosendale (Mont.) and Ralph Norman (S.C.) — have explicitly said or strongly indicated they will not support McCarthy. 

Several other House Republicans pushing for rules changes that would empower rank-and-file members have withheld support for McCarthy without explicitly saying they will vote against him. Those members include Reps. Scott Perry (Pa.), Chip Roy (Texas) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.).

When the House GOP conference nominated McCarthy to be Speaker in November, 36 members did not vote for him. Biggs has said he thinks there are around 20 “hard noes” on McCarthy.

All Democrats are expected to vote for incoming House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) for Speaker — at least on the first ballot.

It is possible to elect a Speaker with fewer than 218 votes. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) were elected with 216 votes in 2021 and 2015, respectively.

Current House practice dictates that the Speaker must be elected by a majority of those voting for a specific Speaker candidate by surname. Vacancies, absences and “present” votes lower that threshold. 

Unexpected absences due to illness, weather or other circumstances, then, could affect McCarthy’s math.

Theoretically, some McCarthy opponents could vote “present” rather than for an alternative candidate in order to express opposition without jeopardizing McCarthy’s path to the gavel.

For instance, if 216 Republicans vote for McCarthy, 212 vote for Jeffries, two Republicans vote for other candidates and four vote “present,” McCarthy would be elected Speaker with a majority of all those voting for a candidate.

But the five most vocal McCarthy opponents have forecasted that they will not vote “present” — keeping McCarthy’s bid in further danger.

The schedule for Jan. 3 and the Speaker’s vote

The House is expected to conduct some housekeeping business for the tail end of the 117th Congress on the morning of Jan. 3 before it officially concludes sine die. 

Then at noon on Jan. 3, the constitutionally designated start of every congressional session, the House will start the 118th Congress.

After a call to order by the House clerk, a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, the clerk will order a quorum call — the first roll call action of the 118th Congress.

The next order of business will be electing the House Speaker. Typically, one leader from each party will give nominating speeches for each party nominee.

Then, the clerk takes a roll call vote, going down the list of every member of Congress who will each vocally cast a vote for Speaker. That process took around an hour for the Speakership election in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

There will be no proxy votes. Not only have Republicans pledged to do away with pandemic-era remote voting rule, that procedure can only be used if the House has not adopted a rules package — which happens after the Speaker election and members take their oaths of office. The 2021 Speaker election didn’t have proxy votes, either.

What happens if no candidate wins a majority?

If no candidate wins a majority of votes for Speaker on the first ballot, House lawmakers will vote again and again until a Speaker is elected.

In the event of multiple ballots, the House will not necessarily continue late into the night. The last time there were multiple ballots, the House adjourned until the following day after four failed ballots. Adjourning also allows members time to negotiate and strike deals.

But the House will be able to do little else. Until a Speaker is elected, it can’t adopt a rules package governing procedure in the House. For House Republicans, uncertainty about the Speaker election has led to a delay in the conference choosing contested committee chairs.

Any long delay in selecting a Speaker could also affect staff operations for the House. Politico reported that guidance sent to House committees warned that payroll cannot be processed for staff if a House rules package is not adopted by Jan. 13.

Dire circumstances could lead to unusual procedures. Twice before, in 1949 and 1956, the House agreed to a resolution that allowed a Speaker to be elected by a plurality. That move was something of a last resort, though, and came after 59 and 129 failed ballots. A majority of the whole House would need to agree to that resolution.

Multiple Speaker ballots would put a marker in history

A Speaker election has not gone to a second ballot in nearly a century and has taken multiple ballots only 14 times, with 13 of those occurring before the Civil War.

The last time, in December 1923, it took nine ballots over three days before the House elected Republican Frederick Gillett (Mass.) to a third term as Speaker. 

Gillett won the Speakership after reaching an agreement with progressive Republicans that the House would consider and debate changes to the House rules — a situation not so different than the one McCarthy is facing today.

The longest Speakership election ever, in 1856, lasted two months and took 133 ballots before Rep. Nathaniel Banks (Mass.) was elected Speaker.

If not McCarthy, then who?

McCarthy allies note there is not a public viable alternative to him for Speaker and argue that his detractors are merely saber rattling to get leverage for concessions on rules and priorities.

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) is running as a protest challenger to McCarthy, but not even his fellow McCarthy opponents think he is a viable GOP alternative for Speaker.

McCarthy opponents have teased that there will be an alternative candidate for Speaker revealed at some point, but have declined to come together to name a consensus alternative, fearing backlash.

Rep. Steve Scalise (La.), whom Republicans elected to be House majority leader, is an obvious potential alternative to McCarthy. But Scalise is publicly backing McCarthy.

“Kevin’s going to get there, and he’s going to have a lot of meetings with members to make sure that we get this result on Jan. 3,” Scalise said before the House left for the holidays. 

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who challenged McCarthy to lead House Republicans in 2018, is a favorite of hard-line conservative Republicans. Gaetz has pushed a “Jordan for Speaker” message in recent days. Jordan, though, has also repeatedly said he supports McCarthy.

McCarthy detractors say there is no chance that a Democrat is elected Speaker. And while it is technically possible for a nonmember to be elected House Speaker, Good recently said that notion is “practically improbable.”

Some Republicans and Democrats have also teased the possibility of working together to elect a consensus GOP Speaker. But moderate GOP Rep. Don Bacon (Neb.) says he will only entertain that if McCarthy drops out of the race.

Arguments for and against McCarthy

Supporters of McCarthy argue that he has earned the position after leading House Republicans back to the majority through gains in both the 2020 and 2022 elections. They praise his “Commitment to America” plan for a GOP majority.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who has emerged as one of the most vocal McCarthy supporters, has also warned that any GOP alternative to McCarthy could be less conservative and give less leeway for hard-line conservatives like herself.

They also criticize any delays in House GOP oversight activities and worry about the precedent of denying their party leader for the past four years the post.

“If you can put all that work and dedicate your life and sacrifice your time, yourself, your family, only in the eleventh hour to have a knife in your back, nobody’s ever going to do that work again. It would set the worst precedent I can imagine politically,” Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) told The Hill in December.

But those opposed to McCarthy or withholding support for him argue that smaller-than-expected gains in the 2022 midterms should not be rewarded. They are pushing McCarthy to take even stronger stances and tactics against Democrats and the Biden administration, want a plan to balance the federal budget and favor rules changes that would empower individual members, among other demands.

Boebert recently said her “red line” for support is restoring any member’s ability to make a “motion to vacate the chair,” a move to force a vote on ousting the Speaker.

McCarthy over the weekend made a key concession on the point and lowered the threshold to five GOP members to make a move to vacate, down from a standard of a majority of the conference. But McCarthy critics have signaled that standard, along with his response on other measures, is not good enough.

​House, News, Andy Biggs, Bob Good, Donald McEachin, John Boehner, Kevin McCarthy, Matt Gaetz, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker's election Read More 

Just In | The Hill 

No more posturing, and no more wishful thinking: The House will vote for a Speaker on Tuesday afternoon, revealing whether House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) has the confidence of his conference to lead a new House GOP majority.

It is far from clear how the vote will play out. McCarthy faces vocal opposition from a handful of hardline Republicans threatening to derail his bid despite his bending to their requests, while his allies maintain they will vote for no one other than McCarthy.

If no candidate wins a majority of votes on the first ballot, it will be the first time in a century that the House has gone to multiple votes for Speaker. With 222 Republicans to 212 Democrats, McCarthy can afford to lose just four votes, assuming every member votes for a candidate.

The 118th Congress kicks off at noon. After a prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance and a quorum call, the House will move straight into Speaker nomination speeches and a vote on who will hold the gavel.

McCarthy opponents for weeks have insisted that he does not have the support to be Speaker. While he won the House GOP Speaker nomination with 188 votes, another 31 went to Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and five voted for other candidates. 

Five House Republicans have strongly indicated they will not vote for McCarthy, and several more have withheld support for him. Biggs has estimated that around 20 Republicans will not vote for McCarthy.

Reasons for opposition are many. They include: disappointment at smaller-than-expected gains in the midterm elections, frustration at a McCarthy-aligned PAC getting involved in GOP primaries, demands for rules changes that would strip power from McCarthy and give more to rank-and-file members, a desire for a more aggressive stance on investigating the Biden administration and impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and a desire for a budget that significantly cuts federal spending. Opponents have also criticized McCarthy for his previous work with Democrats on spending measures.

At the core, the members withholding support for McCarthy say that those factors, as well as his approach to requests that were first made over the summer, add up to a lack of confidence.

“The problem is that people don’t trust Kevin McCarthy,” Scott Perry (R-Pa), chair of the House Freedom Caucus, told The Hill on Sunday. Perry has not said how he plans to vote on the Speakership as he continues to engage in negotiations.

Members had cautioned McCarthy months ago that the longer he waited to engage with the right flank, the more support he would lose.

“The fact that we are now approaching the 11th hour is not the fault, or is not the responsibility, of his detractors. It’s his responsibility, and the blame lies with him,” Perry said. 

McCarthy allies, meanwhile, have grown frustrated by the opposition that they see as posturing, and worry that some rules change demands could backfire by empowering Democrats.

Some members are planning to wear “O.K.” buttons – for “Only Kevin,” as a response to the “Never Kevin” group – on Jan. 3.

“We are prepared to vote for him for as long as it takes,” Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), chair and vice chair of the more pragmatic House GOP Main Street caucus, wrote in a letter on Friday.

“We won’t reward chaos,” the two added, explaining that any support for rules changes that McCarthy opponents are demanding “will be taken off the table if Kevin McCarthy is not expediently elected Speaker of the House on January 3.”

Over the weekend, McCarthy offered some concessions to critics with a House rules package. 

One of those was lowering the threshold for a move to “vacate the chair” — forcing a vote on ousting the Speaker — to just five Republican members, rather than a threshold of at least half of the House GOP Conference that Republicans adopted in an internal rule in November. 

That procedural move made headlines when then-Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), made the motion in 2015, contributing to a House Freedom Caucus rebellion that ended with former GOP Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) resigning from Congress later that year. 

But that’s not good enough for Perry and several of his colleagues, who say that any single member should be able to make the motion. More moderate members argue that reverting to that standard could empower Democrats.

The House is also set to create a House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on the “Weaponization of the Federal Government,” an apparent recognition of a request to form a “Church-style” committee to investigate alleged government abuses, in reference to a 1975 Senate select committee named for former Sen. Frank Church (D-Idaho) that investigated intelligence agencies.

But after a conference-wide call on the House rules on Sunday, a group of nine hardline conservatives led by Perry released a letter saying that McCarthy’s response to their request does not adequately address their requests.

“At this stage, it cannot be a surprise that expressions of vague hopes reflected in far too many of the crucial points still under debate are insufficient,” said the group of nine, which notably is in addition to the five members considered to be in the “Never Kevin” camp.

McCarthy allies also point out that there is no public viable GOP alternative to his candidacy for Speaker. They add that it would be unfair, and set a bad precedent for the Speakership, to reveal an 11th-hour candidate.

Biggs is running as a protest challenger to McCarthy, but not even his fellow McCarthy opponents think he is a viable GOP alternative to McCarthy for Speaker.

“A lot will be revealed on January 3,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), who has indicated he will not vote for McCarthy, said before Congress departed in December.

Some McCarthy detractors have suggested that a consensus alternative will emerge once it is clear that the GOP leader cannot win the gavel, but they have not all publicly rallied behind a potential alternative.

Rep. Steve Scalise (La.), who Republicans elected to be House majority leader, is an obvious potential alternative to McCarthy. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has pushed Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as a potential alternative. Both Scalise and Jordan, however, say they support McCarthy. 

The turmoil over the Speaker’s race has led to a delay in Republicans organizing their committees and electing chairs in contested races.

“It’s worth a few days or whatever time that it takes to get the best person to lead us, and I’m confident we’ll do that,” Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), who has said we will not support McCarthy, told The Hill before lawmakers left for the holidays.

The last time the Speaker vote went to multiple ballots was in December 1923, when holdouts pushing for rules changes forced nine ballots over three days before Republican Frederick Gillett (Mass.) won a third term as Speaker. 

Before that, 13 other Speaker elections went to multiple ballots, all before the Civil War. In the longest Speakership election, members cast 133 ballots over two months.

​House, News, Andy Biggs, Bob Good, Jim Jordan, Kevin McCarthy, Speakership election, Steve Scalise Read More 

Just In | The Hill 

The 118th Congress officially kicks off on Tuesday, with the House voting on its next Speaker and members of both chambers — newly elected and incumbent — taking their oaths of office to be sworn in for the new session.

The House is scheduled to convene at noon on Tuesday and will begin business with the highly-anticipated Speaker vote, which has been a source of contention in the Republican conference for weeks as GOP leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) has sought to shore up support to secure the gavel.

Once a Speaker is sworn in — which could take several days if McCarthy fails to win on the first ballot — members of the House will then be administered the oath of office by the newly minted top lawmaker.

On the Senate side, the chamber will convene at noon on Tuesday for the first session of the 118th Congress, and members will be sworn in.

House to vote on Speaker

The race for Speaker will come to a head on Tuesday, when McCarthy’s nomination hits the floor and lawmakers vote on who to install as the next top lawmaker in the House.

McCarthy won the GOP nomination for Speaker in November, staving off a last-minute challenge by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus. McCarthy secured 188 votes from House Republicans, far ahead of Biggs’s 31. Biggs is remaining in the race as a protest candidate.

McCarthy has been engaging in negotiations with members of the conference for weeks in an effort to to turn his detractors into supporters. On Sunday, he offered a number of concessions to those critics in a rules package released by the conference.

Among the compromises is lowering the required number of Republicans to approve a motion to “vacate the chair,” which would force a vote on ousting the Speaker, to five. In November, the conference voted on an internal rule that would require approval from at least half of House Republicans to force the vote.

Additionally, the House will establish a select subcommittee on the “Weaponization of the Federal Government,” under the umbrella of the Judiciary Committee, which will “investigate the full extent of the Biden Administration’s assault on the constitutional rights of American citizens.”

It remains to be seen, however, how effective those concessions will be in securing enough support for McCarthy’s Speakership bid.

Shortly after House Republicans convened for a call regarding the rules package on Sunday, a group of nine conservatives published a letter describing the changes as “insufficient.”

“At this stage, it cannot be a surprise that expressions of vague hopes reflected in far too many of the crucial points still under debate are insufficient,” the letter reads. “This is especially true with respect to Mr. McCarthy’s candidacy for speaker because the times call for radical departure from the status quo — not a continuation of past, and ongoing, Republican failures.”

The group of nine did not include the five lawmakers who have already expressed opposition to McCarthy, marking an expansion of the contingent of members cool to his candidacy.

Making matters worse for McCarthy, the Club for Growth, an influential conservative group, released a “key vote” alert on Monday urging House members to only vote for a Speaker candidate who agrees to a set of rules changes — terms that McCarthy has not agreed to. On the list is banning the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with McCarthy, from “engag[ing] in open Republican primaries or against any Republican incumbent.” The statement, however, did not mention McCarthy by name.

Time is running out for McCarthy to strike a deal to secure the gavel. Members will vote for Speaker shortly after the House convenes at noon on Tuesday. 

Adding to the urgency, the chamber cannot move forward with legislative business until a Speaker is elected.

McCarthy needs support from a majority of the chamber voting for a specific candidate for Speaker, making the magic number 218. With the House set to include 222 Republicans and 212 Democrats, that means he can only afford to lose four GOP lawmakers if every member casts a vote.

But if any lawmakers do not vote or vote present, that number could be lower. Democrats are expected to vote for Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.).

The race could go to a second ballot if no candidate secures majority support in the first round of voting. The last time a Speaker was not elected on the first ballot was 1923.

House lawmakers, Senators to be sworn in

After a Speaker is elected, members of the House will begin taking their oaths of office to be sworn in for the 118th Congress. That, however, cannot occur until a Speaker is sworn in, which means it could be days until members take their oaths.

The Speaker will administer the oaths, according to the Congressional Research Service. Both newly elected and re-elected members must be sworn in. More than 70 lawmakers taking the oath are new members of Congress.

Significant attention will be focused on Rep.-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.), who is arriving in Washington amid scrutiny after revelations that he fabricated and misrepresented parts of his biography. He admitted to embellishing parts of his resume after the reports.

The incoming congressman, however, is vowing to serve his term, telling City & State in an interview last week, “I’m not resigning.”

“If I have to leave Congress,” he told the outlet, “it’s going to be by a pink slip by the voters, November of 2024.”

On the other side of the Capitol, the Senate is scheduled to convene at noon, and members of the chamber will be sworn in. Both incumbent senators and those elected for the first time will be administered the oath of office. The oath will be administered by Vice President Harris or a surrogate, per the Senate website.

After senators are sworn in, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) will be elected president pro-tempore, the position that is third in line to the presidency. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced in November that he would nominate Murray to the post to succeed Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who is retiring.

The position typically goes to the most senior member of the majority party. That would be Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who has served in the chamber since November 1992, a few months earlier than Murray. Feinstein, however, declined to take on the role.

The Senate is only scheduled to be in session on Tuesday of this week, and will reconvene on Jan. 23.

House Republicans look to plow ahead with first pieces of legislation

Once a Speaker is elected, House Republicans are planning to plow ahead with a number of legislative priorities to kick off the new Congress.

First, the chamber is scheduled to vote on adopting the rules for the 118th Congress, which House Republicans released on Sunday night. The terms have been an area of focus amid negotiations in the Speaker race, with some of McCarthy’s detractors pushing for rules that would empower individual members.

After that, the chamber is set to take up the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act, which would revoke the increase in funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that was appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act, which Democrats passed over the summer.

McCarthy teased the bill as the first piece of legislation the chamber would take up back in September. Members of the GOP conference have falsely claimed that the increase in funding will authorize 87,000 new IRS agents. The estimate, however, includes support staff and non-agent IRS agents and replacements for individuals who depart the agency over the next 10 years.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), who is slated to become majority leader in the next Congress, outlined a number of other measures that will come to the floor in the first two weeks of the new session — including eight bills and three resolutions.

Among those listed are bills involving immigration and the border, abortion and how the U.S. manages petroleum and energy production. The chamber will also consider a resolution condemning recent attacks on anti-abortion centers and churches.

“The American people spoke on November 8th and decided it was time for a new direction. The last two years have been tough on hard-working families as they have grappled with drastic increases in the cost of living, safety concerns with violent crime skyrocketing in our communities, soaring gas and home heating prices, and a worsening crisis at our Southern border,” Scalise wrote in a letter to GOP lawmakers last week.

“In the 118th Congress, we will work to address these problems by passing bills that will improve the lives of all Americans,” he added.

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Just In | The Hill 

As the House convenes Tuesday to elect a new Speaker, Kevin McCarthy’s path to leadership could be blocked by a number of his fellow Republicans.

A range of GOP stakeholders inside and outside the chamber could play key roles in the lead-up to and during the vote and its aftermath.

If McCarthy cannot secure the support of a majority of those voting on Tuesday, the Speakership election will go to a second ballot. That has not happened in a century. With Republicans holding only 222 seats in the House, McCarthy could only afford to lose four votes and still win the speaker’s gavel if every House member votes.

Here are the Republicans to watch Tuesday as the House chooses its next speaker:

Kevin McCarthy

McCarthy engaged in recent days with members of the Republican caucus to try to gather enough support to become Speaker, but he has not locked that up yet.

He has been trying to work with a group of five members who have directly said or strongly indicated they will not vote for him on Tuesday, along with Republican House members who have made demands of him in exchange for their support.

McCarthy has said some of these requests have his backing, including the creation of a 72-hour requirement between when the final text of a bill is released and when the House votes on it, as well as a proposal for House GOP to block legislation from Senate Republicans who supported the omnibus government funding bill late last month.

He has also agreed to a rule that allows for five House Republicans to make a motion to “vacate the chair,” which would launch a vote to remove the Speaker. House rules have required a majority of a party to support the motion for a vote on removing the Speaker to occur. But some Republicans had pushed for allowing a single member to make the motion.

Biggs, Gaetz, Good, Norman, Rosendale

Republican Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Bob Good (Va.), Ralph Norman (S.C.) and Matt Rosendale (Mont.) have been the most adamant about not supporting McCarthy, and reportedly plan to vote as a bloc on McCarthy’s candidacy.

The five could be enough to deny McCarthy victory, at least on the first ballot, or possibly altogether if McCarthy cannot organize a winning coalition.

McCarthy told conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt in December that he expects they will come around “in the end” but acknowledged they have not moved from their position as their talks have continued.

Biggs challenged McCarthy to be the Republicans’ choice for Speaker in November. McCarthy easily won in a closed-door vote, 188 to 31, but Biggs’ challenge demonstrated McCarthy’s lack of full support, at least at the time.

Gaetz wrote in an op-ed in The Daily Caller last month that McCarthy “has no ideology” and would cave “to liberals.” Norman told The Hill earlier this month that he does not plan to vote for McCarthy but is still meeting with him, adding that “miracles do happen.”

Lauren Boebert

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) has not declared she is absolutely opposed to McCarthy becoming Speaker, but she has drawn a line in the sand for what he must agree to in order to win her support.

Boebert said at a Turning Point USA conference last month that she would not support his bid unless he agrees to the “accountability mechanism” allowing members to make a motion to removing the Speaker.

The rule governing a motion to vacate under Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has required a majority of a party’s caucus members to support its use. Boebert has said that revising the rule is her “red line” for supporting McCarthy and that all negotiations must start with that.

Crane and Ogles

Reps.-elect Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) and Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) will have their first day in Congress on Tuesday and could almost immediately play a key role in determining McCarthy’s fate. The two, along with five other GOP lawmakers separate from the group of five potentially operating as a bloc, signed a letter sent to Republican colleagues in December outlining a list of demands they expect from a future House speaker.

The demands include the ability to force a vote on removing the speaker, declining to raise the debt ceiling without having a plan to cap spending and balance the federal budget in 10 years, and banning House Republican leadership and leadership-affiliated PACs from getting involved in primaries.

The sitting House members who signed the letter are members of the House Freedom Caucus, which is made up of some of the most conservative members of the Republican conference.

Scott Perry and the Freedom Caucus

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), chair of the House Freedom Caucus and one of the signers of the letter that Crane and Ogles backed, stood by the letter as members of Congress left Washington ahead of the holidays.

“Nothing’s changed. Requests are still there,” he said.

Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), another signer of the letter, issued a separate statement noting that the letter is not aimed only at McCarthy but anyone wishing to become Speaker.

But caucus members are not united on whether to support McCarthy. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has been one of McCarthy’s most vocal backers, arguing that an alternative to him could be less supportive of the far-right members of the conference.

Gaetz has called on another Freedom Caucus member, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), to run for Speaker, but Jordan has fully thrown his support behind McCarthy.

Perry was also part of the group that threatened to “thwart” any legislative proposals from Republican senators who voted for the government funding bill.

Steve Scalise

One of the challenges facing McCarthy’s opponents has been the lack of a clear alternative who could be elected Speaker instead. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) would be an obvious choice.

Scalise, selected as House majority leader for when Republicans retake control of the chamber on Tuesday, has said he supports McCarthy, but he would be among — if not the most — plausible alternative if McCarthy is unable to get the necessary votes to win.

Scalise expressed confidence that McCarthy would prevail, when asked on Dec. 23 about speculation of him being another potential option.

“Kevin’s going to get there, and he’s going to have a lot of meetings with members to make sure that we get this result on January 3,” he said.

But Politico reported on Thursday that some allies of McCarthy have said Scalise could be doing more to help with McCarthy’s Speaker bid.

Donald Trump

McCarthy criticized Trump in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, but the two have returned to being close allies since then.

Trump voiced support for McCarthy becoming the Speaker in an interview with Breitbart in December. He said he warned the group of five GOP House members who are opposing McCarthy that they are “playing a very dangerous game.”

“Look, I think this: Kevin has worked very hard,” Trump said. “I think he deserves the shot. Hopefully, he’s going to be very strong and going to be very good and he’s going to do what everybody wants.”

He pointed to the situation following former House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) resignation in 2015, which led the party to eventually turn to former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). Trump said Ryan was a “disaster” for the party.

​House, Freedom Caucus, House Republicans, Kevin McCarthy, Speakership vote Read More