House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has warned his fellow Republicans not to “play games” by opposing his bid for House speaker — saying division in the conference could lead to Democrats electing the chamber’s next leader even though they will be the minority.
Five House Republicans have so far come out publicly against McCarthy (R-Calif.), who can’t afford many defections among the narrow GOP majority to win the 218 votes he needs to be elected speaker.
Republicans won at least 221 House seats in the Nov. 8 midterm elections, but the entire Democratic caucus is expected to vote against McCarthy, making his margin dangerously thin.
One California House race where GOP candidate John Duarte leads has yet to be called.
During an interview on Newsmax on Monday, host Sean Spicer asked McCarthy what he would say to the five Republican members balking at his speakership bid.
“We got five more weeks,” McCarthy answered, referring to the vote for Speaker that will take place when the new Congress convenes Jan. 3. “We’re working through our conference rules today. We want to make sure that everybody has input, but we have to speak as one voice. We will only be successful if we work together or we’ll lose individually.”
“This is very fragile that we are the only stopgap for this Biden administration,” the GOP leader added. “And if we don’t do this right, the Democrats can take the majority. If we play games on the floor, the Democrats could end up picking who the speaker is.”
McCarthy won the party’s nomination for House speaker earlier this month, overcoming a challenge from Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), in the House Republican conference.
But McCarthy only defeated Biggs by 188-31, falling 30 votes short of what he will need when the full House votes on the successor to current Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who announced Nov. 17 she will not seek a Democratic leadership role in the new Congress.
Some Republicans have expressed dissatisfaction with McCarthy’s leadership in the wake of the midterms, when GOP candidates underperformed expectations of a “red wave” sweeping Republicans into office.
Biggs is one of the five defying McCarthy — along with Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Bob Good of Virginia, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Matt Rosendale of Montana and Chip Roy of Texas.
The Arizonan told the “Conservative Review” podcast on Monday that there are 20 GOP “no” votes against McCarthy and that he expects an alternate candidate will come forward before Jan. 3. Under House rules, the speaker does not have to be a member of the chamber — or even a member of Congress.
McCarthy insisted to Newsmax he believes eventually “calmer heads will prevail.”
“We’ll work together to find the best path forward. And I believe at the end of the day, since I’ve been leader, all we’ve done is been able to gain seats. We have not lost seats,” McCarthy said.
“We’ll make the American public proud of what we’re able to accomplish and turn this economy back around because we’re going to focus on the people, not on politics,” he added.
McCarthy got a vote of confidence over the weekend from Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the incoming chair of the House Oversight Committee.
“I’m of the opinion that on Jan. 3, we’ll come together as a conference and elect Kevin McCarthy to be Speaker of the House. I think this is something that is ongoing, and there are certainly five to eight members that have said they’re leaning towards voting no against Kevin McCarthy. They’re — They have a right to support whoever they want. They have their opinions,” Comer told NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
“They have their goals in the conference. Many of them are on my committee. I’m friends with them, but I’m hopeful at the end of the day that we will come together as a conference and elect Kevin,” he said, adding: “There’s overwhelming support for Kevin McCarthy in our conference.”
