Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s surrender to factions within the Republican caucus is unprecedented. Allowing for a change in the rules that would massively lower the threshold to call for a vote to oust him guarantees chaos among House Republicans. Lowering the trigger for a vote to replace the speaker from a majority of the 222 caucus members to just five means that moderate factions, conservative factions, and the hard right will all be able to recall McCarthy if he doesn’t do as they ask.
Even his proposal to gut the Ethics Committee wasn’t enough to win the support he needs to put him over the top.
McCarthy released a passel of “concessions” over the weekend that doesn’t appear to have persuaded enough of his detractors to give him a first-ballot victory in Tuesday’s vote. So it looks like, for the first time in a hundred years, there will be a floor battle for the speakership. Read more…
