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McCarthy's speaker deals come back to haunt him [1]
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Date: 2023-05-30
That’s Roy saying that nothing could come out of the Rules Committee—and thus nothing could go to the floor—if all nine Republicans don’t support it. That handshake deal was never made public, though everyone agrees that the deal requires the support of seven of the nine Republicans on the committee for legislation to move. Unanimous support? Nope, say other Republicans.
“If those conversations took place, the rest of the conference was unaware of them. And frankly, I doubt that,” Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota said Monday. “I'm a rules guy. When somebody tells me something has to happen a certain way, the first thing I do is get out the rule book,” Johnson said. “And when I checked, there wasn't a rule that something has to come out of the Rules Committee unanimously.” He’s a “rules guy,” but he isn’t on the committee.
The implied threat from Roy here, of course, is McCarthy’s speakership. The other deal they made with McCarthy was that any single one of them could bring the equivalent of a no-confidence vote, a “motion to vacate the chair,” to the floor at any time. The motion to vacate is particularly potent because it is privileged, meaning that once it’s introduced, it has to be considered. Roy may or may not decide to pull that this week in an attempt to derail the debt ceiling deal, but the threat is there.
It’s not just the far right opposing the deal, though. Slightly less far-right South Carolina Republican Nancy Mace, who has enjoyed a national spotlight since January as a sometimes “moderate,” has announced her opposition.
x Washington is broken.
Republicans got outsmarted by a President who can’t find his pants.
I’m voting NO on the debt ceiling debacle because playing the DC game isn’t worth selling out our kids and grandkids. — Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) May 30, 2023
Mace might have inserted herself in this for the media attention, but nonetheless poses a problem for McCarthy. He doesn’t want to have to rely on a majority of Democratic votes to pass this thing because that will definitely expose him to a speakership challenge, so Mace’s defection is important.
That’s probably why he’s out giving interviews saying bizarre things like this:
x Kevin McCarthy says on Fox & Friends that the debt ceiling bill will prevent children from ... collecting welfare? pic.twitter.com/46DM03K1Be — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 30, 2023
No, the deal doesn’t impose work requirements on children. But it’s a real tell that he thinks that would be a selling point for his colleagues.
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https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/30/2172201/-Debt-ceiling-follies-Outraged-Republican-edition
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