House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was bullish Tuesday about his odds of holding onto the gavel despite a bid to oust him by fellow Republican Matt Gaetz — while Democrats indicated they would not throw McCarthy a lifeline to keep him in power.
“At the end of the day, if you throw a speaker out that has 99% of their conference, that kept government open, that paid the troops, I think we’re in a really bad place for how we’re going to run Congress,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters ahead of an afternoon vote on a motion to vacate put forward Monday evening by Gaetz (R-Fla.)
While nothing is final until the votes are cast, reports indicated that a handful of Republicans would join all House Democrats in backing Gaetz’s motion — meaning McCarthy would be the first-ever speaker removed through the parliamentary procedure and kicking off what is likely to be a lengthy round of balloting to find a replacement.
“If five Republicans go with Democrats, I’m out,” McCarthy added, before predicting: “I’m confident I’ll hold on.”
Democrats emerged from a Tuesday morning caucus meeting seemingly united in their determination not to bail out the Californian, who liberal lawmakers said had already made too many concessions to the far-right members of his conference.
“We encourage our Republican colleagues who claim to be more traditional to break from the extremists, end the chaos, end the dysfunction, end the extremism,” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told reporters. “We are ready, willing and able to work together with our Republican colleagues, but it is on them to join us to move the Congress and the country forward.”
“It was pretty evident that the Democratic caucus does not feel that Kevin McCarthy is a leader who can be trusted,” Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) said after the meeting, summing up the feelings of many of his colleagues.
Even moderate Democrats like Rep. Jared Golden of Maine were turning their back on McCarthy, with the New Englander saying he saw “no reason” to keep the Republican in the leadership post.
“Even if Kevin McCarthy were to say he would do something, there’s not a whole lot of trust that he’ll live up to whatever he commits to,” added Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.). “Just given his history, it’s really difficult to imagine taking what Kevin McCarthy says at face value.”
“Our job is not to elect Republican speakers,” Congressional Progressive Caucus leader Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) told Fox News. “It’s to elect Democratic speakers.”
The actual vote on Gaetz’s motion will be proceeded by a vote on a motion to table, which would kill the effort to unseat McCarthy if successful.
If McCarthy is voted out, all House business will come to a halt until a new speaker is voted on. In January, it took four days and 15 ballots for him to win the gavel.
“There was a time I was gonna be speaker and I couldn’t — you guys all counted me out. I’m speaker … you were confident that government was going to shut down, you were confident the debt ceiling wouldn’t get done,” McCarthy said Tuesday.
“But each and every time, if there was an obstacle, I view it as a challenge and we’re gonna solve the challenge,” he added.
The speaker also ruled out making any concessions to Democrats to ensure he would continue in post past Tuesday afternoon.
“That doesn’t work,” McCarthy told reporters. “We’re in the majority. You don’t surrender. Do you work with the other side? Yeah, that’s what I’ve done.”
“[Democrats] haven’t asked for anything. I’m not going to provide anything,” McCarthy told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Tuesday morning.
As the House grapples with the insurgent bid to depose McCarthy, a handful of Democrats are expected to leave Washington to attend the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) funeral later in the week.
That could theoretically give McCarthy more breathing room if he pushes the final vote on a motion to Wednesday evening, the latest it can take place under House rules.