House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., listens as other members speak during his news conference on FY23 government funding on Wednesday, December 14, 2022.
Bill Clark | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — Because the House prepares to usher within the 118th Congress and latest Republican majority on Tuesday, GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy is struggling to secure enough support for his bid to be House speaker to avoid a protracted and historic fight on the House floor.
The California congressman has lobbied his fellow Republicans for months and made several concessions to a small but outspoken bloc of conservatives. However the efforts haven’t yet produced the breakthrough McCarthy must be elected House speaker in the primary round of voice voting, which is anticipated to happen shortly after noon ET.
With the intention to be elected speaker, McCarthy needs support from a majority of the members who vote Tuesday, or 218 of the 434 House members expected to vote. But with only 222 Republicans total, and no Democrats expected to vote for him, McCarthy can afford to lose only 4 members of his caucus.
As of Tuesday morning, six current Republican members and three members-elect, all conservatives, still publicly opposed McCarthy. McCarthy also faced months of organized opposition from influential conservative outside groups, which have amplified his critics on social media.
McCarthy’s failure to win public support from his entire caucus has already solid a shadow over the brand new Republican majority, exposing divisions inside the party which have existed for many years. The differences were deepened by former President Donald Trump, who emboldened a small band of ultra-conservatives.
Trump eventually backed McCarthy’s bid for speaker, as did other influential conservatives akin to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
House Republicans began Tuesday morning with a caucus meeting that was viewed as McCarthy’s final opportunity to make his pitch to members who is likely to be on the fence.
Heading into the meeting, McCarthy struck a confident tone.
“We’ll unite the team,” he told Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman.
Yet judging from early statements by key Republican holdouts, the conservatives had a protracted list of demands they believed McCarthy has failed to fulfill.
House Democrats, meanwhile, openly relished the inner chaos roiling the opposing party.
“We definitely are seeing chaos today in Congress, and that is an extension of the extremism that we have now seen from the GOP,” incoming House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
She accused McCarthy of getting “thrown away his moral compass.”
This can be a developing story, please check back for updates.