Posted on 01/01/2023 10:34:18 PM PST by george76
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in a major reversal has decided to support restoring a rule that allows a motion from the floor of the House of Representatives to “vacate the chair” and force a vote on a new Speaker of the House.
McCarthy’s change of position comes as the first vote of the newly convening 118th Congress is expected to begin in less than 48 hours on Jan. 3 at noon. McCarthy is the clear choice to succeed the outgoing Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of a majority of 222 Republicans who will hold the majority in the House.
But to be elected Speaker, McCarthy must win the votes of a majority of all members present on the floor for the vote. That means if all 222 Republicans and 212 Democrats are present, McCarthy can only afford to lose four GOP votes in order to secure the 218 needed to be elected Speaker.
Five House Republicans, led by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), have said in recent weeks they will not vote for McCarthy under any circumstances, but that was before the Californian changed his mind on the vacate the chair issue.
During a long conference call with fellow House Republicans late Sunday, McCarthy said he has decided to go along with bringing back the rule that was dropped after it was used by then-Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) to take the Speaker’s Gavel away from Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) in 2015.
McCarthy has opposed restoring the rule, which is analogous to the British Parliament’s “No Confidence” vote, because it would severely weaken the power of a Speaker to control his or her party caucus.
But the pressure of the Biggs-led caucus and the razor-thin majority handed to the Republicans in the Nov. 8 midterm election forced McCarthy to make multiple concessions to the House Freedom Caucus in his effort to get to 218 votes.
Details of exactly how the new vacate motion will function are still to be worked out, according to Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas), but McCarthy said on the conference call he would support a motion brought by at least five members.
This is uncharted territory,” Weber told The Epoch Times late Sunday. “There’s been a lot of conversation in recent weeks. Members are concerned that there is too much power consolidated at the top, and I get that.
“Kevin McCarthy has done a good job of getting everybody together, and so the fact that he is willing to say, ‘Let’s go with five members,’ is encouraging. What that would do, of course, is bring in discussions we’ve had in the GOP conference.”
Weber said there is still concern among many of his colleagues that bringing back the vacate the chair motion will introduce more confusion in the House at just the wrong time.
..He had this creepy sensation that he was assisting in the cutting his own throat!
Did he have his fingers crossed behind his back?
The Democrats are playing tackle football, and we’re playing
kick the can (on down the road, again).
Here comes another two years of ben dover shenanigans, them
telling us great things are happening, when we can witness
the compromising that Democrats NEVER participate in when
they have the majority.
Gosh what a swell situation.
If you loved McConnell / Ryan - you’re going to love
McConnell / McCarthy
Prove me wrong Mitch. I triple dog dare you.
“McCarthy is the clear choice to succeed the outgoing Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) “
Forget the MSM spin. The fact is that 38 Republican Congressmen and women do not support McArthy as Speaker.THat’s off the public record within the Republican caucus. People are sick of RINOs acting like Democrats.
McArthy has sold out the conservative caucus repeatedly
and now has to dance to their tune or face a genuine floor vote.
THere is no disarray, nor oopsey poopsey...let the floor vote happen and see who receives the vote. Jim Jordan has
been requested repeatedly to throw his hat into the ring.Jordan would make a better speaker than McCarthy would ever even dare to be .
will he first have a vote to eliminate voting by proxy ?
can he guarantee that all repubs will be present on the floor?
bringing back "vacate the chair" issue giving up power ?
If I'm a RAT I bring up a vacate the chair vote every day.
Repubs snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Hilarious.
Cool story. But he has to accept all 55 of their proposals. GOPe gets to hold their nose this time.
I was thinking just that.
They'll do what the can to throw a monkey wrench in the gears and laugh about it while their partners in the DNCMedia will play the straight guy and report and pontificate for hours about the Republicans inability to govern...
they need this cuz he is lying about everything else
keep the pressure on, MAGA!
“They’ll do what the can to throw a monkey wrench in the gears and laugh about it while their partners in the DNCMedia will play the straight guy and report and pontificate for hours about the Republicans inability to govern...”
The Pubs can’t govern for a year anyway. All their leverage was voted away by the Dems and traitor Pubs with the passage of the Omnibus bill. All that is left for the next year is for them to investigate the heck out of the Dems, and they better do a good job of it. Throw light on the Dracula party and make them look as rotten to the core as they truly are. And don’t forget to use the stake after exposing them to the light of day for all to see. The coup de grace.
That’s all that’s left to do for the next year because of the Pub sell-outs, so investigate the Dems to death. That’s why it is so very important what hold-outs Biggs and other hero Pubs are guaranteeing by making it possible to kick McCarthy out if he backslides on attacking the Dems. They know Kevin’s killer instinct to go against the Dems for corruption is negligible, unless he has to rule in fear of being thrown out of the leadership post if he tries to do otherwise. McCarthy is mostly all talk and no hat and he just wants to get along with the Dems while playing at being powerful leader, second in line to the Presidency; a man with no cajones is exactly what is least needed in a Pub leader at this point in time.
Many House rules must be changed and agreed to by McCarthy, and in writing, before any vote to give him the Majority Leadership position takes place. Hang tough you too few brave Pubs. McCarthy’s “best bud” whom he lives with while in Wash DC (he seldom goes home to his family in CA) is gay left leaning pollster Frank Luntz. That should tell you all you need to know (see my cajones remark above).
McCarthy’s support by RINO McConnell is reason enough not to trust him.
He is also supported by TRUMP!
Most of the House rules go back 200 years.
Vodka Lady Pelosi is the hag that changed them.
Go back to the Traditional House Rules.
And to those here who say there is no alternative,
After McCarthys first two failed leadership votes
An alternative(s) will emerge.
And it won’t be a Democrat.
Trump was great on a lot of issues; as for personnel choices, he pretty much sucked.
No to McCarthy under any circumstances. He is NOT a conservative MAGA republican.....
A scorpion wants to cross a river but cannot swim, so it asks a frog to carry it across. The frog hesitates, afraid that the scorpion might sting it, but the scorpion promises not to, pointing out that it would drown if it killed the frog in the middle of the river. The frog considers this argument sensible and agrees to transport the scorpion. Midway across the river, the scorpion stings the frog anyway, dooming them both. The dying frog asks the scorpion why it stung despite knowing the consequence, to which the scorpion replies: "Of course, I stung you. I’m a RINO, and that’s what RINOs do.”
The Republicans are going to clutch each others throats, and we will end up with a Democrat Speaker, maybe even Pelosi.
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