Posted on 12/15/2022 4:25:57 AM PST by RandFan
As Republicans huddled Wednesday to discuss House rule changes that could help Kevin McCarthy in his quest to become speaker, five members who have publicly opposed him made clear they're organizing as a bloc and can't be peeled off individually.
Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Bob Good of Virginia, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Matt Rosendale of Montana and Ralph Norman of South Carolina have all broadcast plans to vote against McCarthy.
Leaving the rules discussion, where no final decisions were made, Biggs and Norman said they remained unmoved in their resolve to oppose McCarthy and expect their bloc of five will remain united in the Jan. 3 floor election and likely expand before then.
“It will grow,” Norman said.
Biggs has stepped up as an alternative candidate and is planning to vote for himself. He said he expects the other four to vote for him too, which Norman confirmed is his plan.
“I trust all four of the bloc,” Biggs said.
The five-member bloc is powerful because four is the maximum number of GOP votes McCarthy could lose in what will be a 222-member conference and still become speaker if no one is absent or votes “present” to lower the threshold. Only members voting for a speaker candidate by name count toward determining the majority threshold McCarthy needs to win, which would be 218 if all members are present and vote for someone by name.
While Biggs does not expect anyone else to challenge McCarthy before Jan. 3, he said others will step forward once it becomes clear no one has 218 votes.
“People have quietly come to me and some others and expressed interest, and I find that intriguing,” Biggs said. He declined to name those Republicans but said they’re House members who are not in the Freedom Caucus.
(Excerpt) Read more at rollcall.com ...
PRAY FOR THEM...
As long as we don’t get a democrat or Liz Cheney in the spot, I’d love to see McCarthy get smacked down.
Anyone remember this...?
“Former Rep. Renee Ellmers announces she’s running for Congress five years after losing her primary amid allegations she had an affair with Kevin McCarthy”
McCarthy cost Elmers her seat.
She is a strong Trump supporter.
I’d support McCarthy if he denounced the Speakership of PRyno as traitorous.
Was Renee Ellmers sleeping with Kevin McCarthy?
BY JANE PORTER OCT. 09, 2015
https://indyweek.com/news/archives/renee-ellmers-sleeping-kevin-mccarthy/
Five stalwarts in the whole Congress.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Democrats find five Republicans to vote with them on a Democratic speaker. That’s about the direction the Republican Party has gone lately.
would not be surprised if a dozen RINOs join with Democrats and vote for Option 3.
Byzantine is a good word to describe the intricacies that are possible. (”Devil in the details”, as they say.)
I wrote my post BEFORE seeing what you wrote.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.