Conservative angst over the debt deal has triggered Kevin McCarthy’s biggest fear — threats to oust him from the speakership.
Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) on Tuesday became the first House conservative to explicitly state he is considering a push to oust McCarthy over his recent deal with President Joe Biden.
“Absolutely” Bishop told POLITICO in an interview on Tuesday, when asked about using the tool that can be used to force out a sitting speaker. “It is inescapable to me. It has to be done.”
The procedure Bishop is considering would essentially trigger a vote of no confidence against McCarthy — a tool that’s been weaponized by the conservative House Freedom Caucus against the past two speakers in attempts to keep party leaders from leaning too much towards the center.
It would only take one House member to decide to trigger the vote, which would then require a simple majority to oust the speaker.
It’s not clear yet if Bishop will go ahead with his threat: He noted he wants support from other colleagues before he takes such a move.
“I don’t make single decisions like that alone. And so it depends on what the members who have courage” also do, he said.
But another Freedom Caucus member, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said ousting McCarthy is on the table.
Conservatives for months have lined up behind McCarthy, explicitly saying they are not looking to push him out, though his allies have been concerned about such an effort since January. McCarthy agreed to rules during the speaker’s race that would allow just a single member to trigger that vote.
The debt deal, struck between McCarthy and President Joe Biden, now has some conservatives changing their tune.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) on a radio show on Tuesday called the deal a “betrayal of the power sharing arrangement that we put in place” among the House GOP. He added that if he can’t squash the package, either in the Rules Committee or on the floor, “then we’re going to have to then regroup and figure out the whole leadership arrangement again” — a veiled threat against the speaker.
But not all Freedom Caucus members agree.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) — another vocal opponent of the deal — told reporters on Tuesday it would be “unfair” to McCarthy for conservatives to jump to that option.