An excellent PAC aligned with Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) announced a breakthrough deal on Wednesday with a conservative group that was formerly against the congressman’s House speakership bid.
The Congressional Leadership Fund, an independent super PAC that backs Republican House candidates, reached an agreement with the Club for Growth, an influential conservative nonprofit, on backing McCarthy.
As a part of the deal, CLF is not going to spend money in any open-seat primaries in secure Republican districts and the group also agreed to not grant resources to other super PAC’s to do the identical.
“Kevin McCarthy has effectively led House Republicans from the Minority to the Majority and we wish to see him proceed to guide the party so we are able to pick up seats for the third cycle in a row,” CLF President Dan Conston said in an announcement.
“CLF has never spent a dollar against a Republican incumbent before and clearly will proceed that policy in the longer term,” Conston added. “CLF will proceed to support incumbents in primaries in addition to challengers in districts that affect the Majority, which proved to be critical to winning the Majority in 2022.”
Club for Growth had urged lawmakers this week to vote against McCarthy for speaker unless certain concessions were made.
The group warned on Monday that the speaker election shall be counted on their legislative scorecard, which grades representatives on their support for “pro-growth, free-market policies.”
One in all the group’s major points of concern was the Congressional Leadership Fund’s ability to support primary challengers to incumbent Republicans. Club for Growth also wanted a speaker that will support rule changes permitting amendments to spending bills and permit hardliners to carry leadership positions.
“This agreement on super PAC’s fulfills a significant concern we’ve got pressed for,” Club for Growth President David McIntosh said in an announcement.
“We understand that Leader McCarthy and Members are working on a rules agreement that may meet the principles we’ve got set out previously. Assuming these principles are met, Club for Growth will support Kevin McCarthy for Speaker,” McIntosh added.
CLF’s statement announcing the deal noted that “Nobody in Congress or their staff has directed or suggested CLF take any motion here.”
The deal is an excellent sign for McCarthy, who has failed to succeed in the vote threshold to be elected House speaker six times for the reason that latest Congress convened on Tuesday.
The California Republican noted on Wednesday that the deal shows momentum is in his favor, and reports Wednesday night indicate that he has agreed to quite a lot of other concessions that will get him more votes on Thursday when the House reconvenes at noon.
“ what I saw on TV today? ‘Oh, this needs to be a day that Kevin gets movement.’ So let’s measure it: You’ve got the Club for Growth. You see that? Is that movement in your view?” McCarthy told reporters on Wednesday.
Six of the 20 GOP holdouts who’ve refused to vote for McCarthy to be House speaker were endorsed by Club for Growth PAC in 2022. They’re: Reps. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), Mary Miller (R-Unwell.), Chip Roy (R-Texas), and Rep.-elect Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), and Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.).
CNN reported Wednesday that McCarthy proposed allowing only one member to call for a vote to oust a speaker, adding more members of the House Freedom Caucus to the House Rules Committee, and promised to vote on a term limit and border security bill in an effort to collect more support from opposing blocs.
Citing several GOP sources, the news outlet noted that the concessions are still not prone to get McCarthy 218 votes but will close the gap.
