McCarthy's Revenge
McCarthy's Revenge
Kevin's black book is the stuff of legends, and he is not afraid to use it.
by America Mission™ Staff writer
Kevin McCarthy remains one of the most influential politicians in the establishment Republican Party. Even though he has suffered a crushing humiliation at the hands of Matt Gaetz and seven other members who voted to oust him with a Motion to Vacate the Chair, his cell phone contact list remains one of the most valuable in Washington DC’s swamp. He continues to control a war chest of funds and the ability to direct donors to candidates. Perhaps now that he is looking in from the outside his influence is even more powerful than before because he is no longer strapped with the same rules and regulations that he was as a Member of Congress nor is his staff. According to multiple sources His loyalist Brian Walsh has already been busy pushing primary challengers to the Members who have betrayed him. So, when we look at the list of Members giving up seats at the end of the term it is no accident or secret that many are McCarthyites, and Committee Chairs and former Members of House Leadership.
McCarthy Loses It
In November of 2022 in what was supposed to be a “Red Wave” election the GOP managed to slide into the majority by one of the slimmest margins in the history of the House of Representatives. When January rolled around it was time to elect a new Speaker and the presumptive candidate was Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, CA who had been the Minority Leader for three terms during the second Speakership of Nancy Pelosi. Little did he know that taking that title for himself would require fifteen rounds of ballots with 216 Republican votes and six Republicans voting present against 212 Democratic Votes. He took his cobbled together GOP Coalition of plus ten into battle against President Biden and a Democratic Controlled Senate.
With key promises in hand like agreeing to investigations, fiscal responsibility, end to pandemic work rules, procedural and ethics changes, release of January 6th video, and a change to the rule on vacating the chair; the Speaker made a stab at the tall orders that he had taken on. He paid lip service to the release of some of the January 6th video, and committees returned to regular order with some key committees receiving very conservative members. He however could not stop being a swamp creature and he refused to hold to the strict budgetary limits that he committed to as part of his deal to become Speaker by allowing for a massive continuing resolution to come to the floor and to be passed with Democratic Votes. It was the last straw for some and a group of eight Republicans led by Matt Gaetz of Florida signed off on a “Motion to Vacate” the chair, which is a privileged motion that is required to be taken up by the House.
Matt Gaetz of Florida
Andy Biggs of Arizona
Ken Buck of Colorado
Tim Burchett of Tennessee
Eli Crane of Arizona
Bob Good of Virginia
Nancy Mace of South Carolina
Matt Rosendale of Montana
The question was, did they have the 216 votes necessary to remove the Speaker? Finally on October 3rd, 2023, the historic moment came, and Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California became the first Speaker of the House of Representatives to be removed from office. Speakers had resigned or died, but never had they been taken down by their own party. This was the ultimate humiliation for a man whose congressional career had him on the path to become Speaker, and for a brief moment, he achieved that goal, and then it was gone in an instant.
What Comes After
McCarthy stayed on for a brief period in Congress representing his district and then resigned his seat in time to allow for a special election to be held. During that time, he tried to influence the leadership vote and was not successful. After a number of attempts to elect a Speaker a relatively unknown Congressman from Louisiana who served on the Committee on the Judiciary Committee rallied enough support to become Speaker on the first ballot that he was presented as the consensus candidate.
There was jubilation for a time, but then reality set in, and something very strange began to happen. The ten seat Majority that was now nine after the announcement of the resignation of McCarthy suddenly became eight because of a vote to oust Representative George Santos of New York on December 1st in what was billed as Ethics Violations though he had not been convicted of anything. Then a number of other retirements began to be announced, Debbie Lesko of Arizona, Kay Granger of Texas, Michael Burgess of Texas, Patrick McHenry (who served as temporary Speaker) of North Carolina, Drew Ferguson of Georgia, Doug Lamborn of Colorado, Larry Bucshon of Indiana, Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri, Greg Pence of Indiana, Matt Rosendale of Montana, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington all decided it was time to leave office at the end of their terms. However, the resignations were not over.
Ken Buck of Colorado resigned and decided to leave his seat, as did Bill Johnson of Ohio, but the most stunning of these was Representative Michael Gallagher of Wisconsin who decided not only to leave office but to do so after the date that a special election could not be held to fill his seat and therefore deprive the GOP a vote in the precious vote in a dwindling majority.
The number of Representatives required to control the House of Representatives is 50% plus one. So, at full capacity 435 the party who has 218 votes controls the House. The GOP when they took office in January of 2023 held 222 seats which is four more than required. Currently that number stands at 218 due to resignations. However, because of vacant seats the GOP can control the House with 216 which is two more seats than the Democrats who have increased their total seats from 212 to 214. A shift of three seats would throw control of the House of Representatives to the Democrats. That could happen though a number of different scenarios including GOP Defections. It is probably unlikely that the Majority would shift (it only happened once in the House during the 72nd Congress but it was due to deaths), but with such a slim margin nothing can be ruled out.
Kevin McCarthy did not become the Majority Leader and then Speaker of the House because of his Good Looks and wonderful demeanor. He elevated himself to those positions because of his ability to do two things, Raise Money, and Negotiate, not necessarily in that order. He controlled a lot of where GOP money flowed for a long time. Being on the outside of the Congress does not change that situation very much. In fact, it gives him somewhat more latitude given that he is no longer held back by the same Campaign Fund Raising rules that cover Members of Congress and their staffs. Kevin has a very impressive call list, and he knows how to use it. Donors trust him and they know where his loyalties are. He is capable of funding challengers to anyone he wants as a proverbial King Maker.
Of the eight on the list of McCarthy Defectors three are not returning to Congress and several of the remaining candidates have difficult races. With everything he’s apparently put into motion, it will be interesting to see how things play out. Regardless, He will be a force to be reckoned with for some time.
Sources:
When was the longest it took to elect a speaker of the House? - ABC News (go.com)
McCarthy Ousted: First House Speaker Ever Booted From The Job (forbes.com)
Could House control flip to the Democrats? Early resignations leave GOP majority on edge - CBS News
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