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Influential Club for Growth urges no vote on McCarthy for Speaker unless rules demands are met

January 3, 2023 Published by

Just In | The Hill 

The Club for Growth, an influential conservative organization, has urged House members to vote against House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to become Speaker unless certain demands are met. 

The organization said in a statement on Monday that representatives should vote for a Speaker who will provide “transformational reforms” to the House, establish a “pro-growth” agenda and restore the individual rights and powers of rank-and-file members. 

The statement does not mention McCarthy by name but says these conditions should apply to anyone desiring to become Speaker. 

“Leadership races are typically ‘inside baseball’ politics but the American People are desperate for new political leadership in America,” it said. 

The organization said the “dire necessity” of restoring the House to a legislative body that gives members from all communities the ability to speak on behalf of constituents, amend and impact legislation, and vote on behalf of the people is more important to the public than any individual member. 

The group said the next Speaker must hold a vote on a constitutional amendment to establish term limits of three terms in the House and two terms in the Senate to expose “career politicians” who serve their own interests instead of those of the American people. 

It said the House should have “open rules” on all major rules legislation, like appropriations, allowing rank-and-file members to have their amendments brought to the floor for a vote. 

The organization is also calling for the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC that works to elect Republicans to the House, to be prohibited from spending money or providing grants to any super PAC to engage in open GOP primaries or against any Republican opponent. The Speaker should also not solicit funds or direct any super PAC to oppose a Republican incumbent. 

The group also calls for a “true conservative” to be included in House leadership, saying that none of the elected leadership from November’s House GOP leadership elections represents the views of a third of Republicans. 

“The transformational reforms described in this key vote alert are vital to restoring the People’s House and ending business as usual,” the group said. 

McCarthy has made multiple concessions to skeptics to him becoming Speaker over the past few weeks as he has tried to gather the votes necessary to win the election. He agreed to a rules package released on Sunday that would allow five Republican members to move to vacate the chair, forcing a vote on ousting the Speaker, at any point and create a select subcommittee on the “Weaponization of the Federal Government.” 

But Republicans opposed to McCarthy have wanted him to go further, allowing only a single member to force a vote to vacate the chair, and his path to the Speakership is uncertain ahead of the vote on Tuesday.

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