A growing anti-Kevin McCarthy sentiment building inside the US House of Representatives could derail his dream of becoming the next Speaker of the House.
Politics :
For years, current House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has had his heart set on one day becoming Speaker of the House of Representatives. So, when Republicans won control of the House during the November 2022 midterm election, McCarthy was as giddy as a girl scout on cookie day when Republicans chose him to continue being their leader.
Too bad for him Republicans only chose McCarthy to be their “leader” and not their choice as “Speaker.” And, therein lies the problem.
A fast-growing anti-Kevin McCarthy movement has been festering inside the House chamber among (get this) members of the minority leader’s own party. The GOP is so fractured with divisive factions fighting for control that McCarthy has unexpectedly found himself at the center of a bitter battle — one that appears almost certain to deny him his coveted constitutional status of being 3rd in line to the presidency.
So, what’s the problem?
The Donald Trump/MAGA/QAnon/nut jobs of the Republican Party want star power within the new Congress. They want to spend every waking hour investigating and impeaching President Biden in retaliation for the multiple impeachments of their king, Donald Trump. However, McCarthy doesn’t want to waste valuable time and taxpayer money on a Biden witch-hunt that has no merit and no crime attached to it.
The next Speaker will need 218 votes to win the prized gavel. Republicans will have 222 seats in the next Congress, however, at least 5+ Republicans have gone public with their anti-Kevin McCarthy sentiment and effectively sunk his candidacy before it ever got off the ground.
The wannabe Speaker has begged and pleaded with his members (in private and in public) to put inner-party pettiness aside and unite. However, his words fell on deaf ears among the congressional Trump fanatics who have made it clear they are only interested in Trump-style divisiveness and revenge.
So if the anti-Kevin McCarthy mood means he (almost assuredly) will not be the next Speaker of the House, who will be?
According to THE HILL, Republicans and Democrats have been working in secret to find a suitable replacement for McCarthy who has the gravitas to lead the next Congress.
“We’re talking about who the other candidates are, who can get into it. Again, we’re not going to publicly throw those names out there because then the disinformation campaign is directed towards them, then the retaliatory efforts go towards them,” GOP Rep. Bob Good of Virginia said last week.
“We’ve had preliminary talks with the Democrats,” Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska told reporters. “If we have multiple, multiple votes, and they’re (other Republicans) not willing to support what the far majority of the conference wants to do, we’re not going to be held hostage by them,” he added.
At least one Democrat, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, said he’d consider supporting a unity candidate if McCarthy stumbles and Republicans can’t choose a candidate among themselves. In fact, he said Republicans have already reached out to him directly to gauge his interest — and at least “a few” other Democrats have received similar entreaties as well.
“This may be a historic opportunity,” Khanna said.
So, there you have it. Growing anti-Kevin McCarthy sentiment could inadvertently do the impossible and the unexpected by uniting Democrats with Republicans on the very first day of the next Congress — all because of political infighting.
Stay tuned…
OK WASSUP! discusses Politics:
Anti-Kevin McCarthy sentiment is uniting Congress.
New York Times: Former President Donald J. Trump has been working the phones, personally pitching right-wing lawmakers on voting to make Representative Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader he has called “My Kevin,” the speaker of the House. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, the most outspoken far-right member of his conference, is publicly vouching for Mr. McCarthy. The California Republican has made private entreaties and public promises to win over his critics, including floating the impeachment of a member of President Biden’s cabinet. And yet, Mr. McCarthy, who is toiling to become speaker next year when the G.O.P. assumes the majority, has so far been unable to put down a mini-revolt on the right that threatens to imperil his bid for the top job. Mr. McCarthy has embarked on the kind of grueling campaign that lawmakers in both parties jockeying for the post have sometimes been forced to perform. But… Read more »