BREAKING: Kevin McCarthy is poised to lose the first vote for speaker, likely sending the House to a second ballot for the first time since 1923.
McCarthy was nominated by Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who earned a standing ovation from the vast majority of the Republican caucus for her speech praising McCarthy as “a proud conservative with a tireless work ethic.”Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., nominated Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., for speaker as an alternative to McCarthy.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, was particularly critical of McCarthy’s opponents Tuesday. “There’s a group of people who have deeply miscalculated,” he said. “They’ve calculated that people will see them as these noble freedom fighters fighting for a cause. They can’t seem to say what the cause is. That makes them look pretty f---ing stupid. And they are pretty f---ing stupid.”
McCarthy's troubles aren't limited to the Gaetz group, however. In a bid to win support from a separate group of Trump-aligned House Freedom Caucus members, McCarthy did agree over the weekend to a suite of rule changes that would water down his powers as speaker. "Despite some progress achieved," the Freedom Caucus group wrote,"Mr. McCarthy’s statement comes almost impossibly late to address continued deficiencies ahead of the opening of the 118th Congress on January 3rd."
“You can’t beat somebody with nobody. So who’s going to beat McCarthy? Who’s going to get 218 votes on the floor? Nobody else but him,” moderate Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., a leader of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, told reporters.
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