First time on CNN: McCarthy presents key demands after House adjourns for 2nd day without selecting speakers | CNN Politics
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After suffering another defeat on Wednesday In which he lost the vote to Speaker of the House for a sixth round, Kevin McCarthy made further important demands to push him to 218 votes, including agreeing to a proposed rule change that would Only one member is allowed. It called for a vote to remove the speaker, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
The key deal comes as McCarthy is struggling to find a path forward by advancing the House until 12 p.m. ET on Thursday.
The House GOP majority is stuck at a contentious impasse amid opposition to McCarthy from the Conservatives. The fight, which began on the first day of the 118th Congress, has turned Most of the new GOP houses are in chaos. and shortening the agenda of the party
The council will remain paralyzed until this conflict is resolved. Things were getting dire for McCarthy’s political future. As Republican allies begin to fear that GOP leaders may not be able to withdraw from their bets on the speaker’s seat. If the battle lasts longer
It’s unclear whether McCarthy and his allies will be able to lock in the vote. and the longer the battle lasts The more risky his bid for the position of spokesperson was. But there were signs on Wednesday that talks were on track.
McCarthy’s latest concession would be a major victory for hardline conservatives. After the California Republican Party proposed a five-member draft, down from current convention rules requiring half of the GOP to call for such a vote. But many moderate members are concerned about the far-right’s capitulation on the issue. This can weaken the spokesperson’s position and cause chaos in the group.
In two additional terms The source said He also agreed to allow more members of the Freedom Caucus to serve on the powerful House rules committee. That will determine how and when a bill will reach the ground. and voted on a number of bills. is the priority for suspension. It also proposed a time limit for members and a border security plan.
However, nothing was final. because the negotiations are still ongoing And Republican sources said that although McCarthy’s proposal was accepted But it still didn’t get the 218 votes he needed to be a speaker. While these capitulations can attract new support, other opponents have raised concerns that have not been fully addressed.
After several failed speaker votes early in the day, The House was postponed for several hours while the Republicans continued to speak.
Texas Representative Chip Roy, one of the conservatives voting against McCarthy’s spokesperson’s bid for the position, told the GOP leaders he thought he could get 10 hole-outs if negotiations were ongoing. These are all gone, according to a GOP source familiar with internal debates and that there are additional dissidents who may be willing to vote “present.”
Sources said Wednesday’s talks between McCarthy’s partners and their holdings were their most productive and serious to date. And in one sign of development, the McCarthy-aligned PAC agreed not to run in the open Republican primaries as safe seats. This is one of the big demands made by conservatives. But McCarthy resisted to this point.
“We had more discussions over the past two days as a body sitting there. More than we’ve done in the past four years,” Roy said as he left City Hall on Wednesday night.
Still, even if these talks prove successful and 10 lawmakers flipping over to McCarthy’s column is far from certain. But that didn’t give McCarthy the 218 votes to win the spokesman position. So he still had a lot of work to do.
Tom Emmer, the House majority who took over the House, said Wednesday evening that negotiations with the next speaker were “very constructive.”
“There are many members involved in this matter. And now some people are sitting down and talking about the conversation to see where they want to go next,” said the Minnesota Republican.
Republican members of the House of Representatives have 222 seats in the new Congress. So for McCarthy to win 218 seats, he only lost four GOP votes. His obstacle was his encounter with a small group of hardline conservatives. but determined which so far has succeeded in denying him a vote to keep the Hammer.
The group took advantage available in the thin Republican majority to stem capitulation. McCarthy has already complied with many of their demands. This includes making it increasingly easier to overthrow the speaker who is listening. But until now, his efforts were not enough.
The council will meet on Wednesday to proceed with the vote. three rounds of voting On Tuesday. McCarthy came up short each time. Fails to meet most of the criteria required to maintain speaker placement.
As the vote protracted on Tuesday The situation seemed to be even worse for McCarthy. as the number of votes against his speaker’s bid increased.
The vote for first ballot in the speaker’s ballot was 203 for McCarthy, with 19 Republicans voting for the other candidate. The votes for the second ballot were 203 for McCarthy and 19 for GOP Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. In the third ballot, it was 202 for McCarthy. and 20 votes for Jordan. With Rep. Byron Donalds joining 19 GOP legislators who voted against McCarthy in the first two rounds.
It was the first time that a speaker election had used multiple ballots since 1923.
“My vote yesterday was basically an end to a dead end. because we are locked to death And we’re not going anywhere,” Florida Republican Donalds said Wednesday on “CNN This Morning.” “Right now (McCarthy) has no path to go. up to that point If that happens again, yes, I can be there, that’s fine, but what is needed now is for the Republicans to come together and find alternative speakers.”
in the fourth round of voting 20 Republicans together voted for Donald. as the group shifted its overall support from Jordan to Donald. Representative Victoria Spartz of Indiana is currently on the ballot. Reduced the McCarthy threshold to 217.
Spartz told CNN she did so because she wanted further talks within the meeting to resolve the concerns of the 20 members.
The final tally for the fifth vote was again 201 for McCarthy, 20 for the Donalds and one currently.
The final tally for the sixth ballot was the same: 201 for the McCarthy, 20 for the Donalds, and one currently.
Trump is watching closely as the dynamic displays on Capitol Hill and his public support are the main focus of McCarthy’s efforts.
Two GOP sources familiar with the matter said McCarthy’s allies were panicking Tuesday after the former president gave a tepid response to NBC News when asked about their support for McCarthy. made a statement on Monday by reiterating McCarthy’s support Despite efforts behind the scenes from several McCarthy allies to get Trump to do so, two sources said.
Then one of McCarthy’s closest allies begins working behind the scenes to do the cleaning. And began pressuring Trump to issue a statement clarifying his support. Then McCarthy and Trump contacted each other by phone. McCarthy said Trump has shown he remains committed to supporting him. Trump expressed his strong support on Truth Social on Wednesday morning. by asking the Republicans not to “Turn a great victory into a great and humiliating defeat” and urged them to vote for McCarthy.
While Trump’s remarks may not have cemented himself among McCarthy’s arch-enemy, But one source said McCarthy’s world was concerned about looking “weak” and he appeared to be backing. So they felt it was important to reverse the narrative.
Gaetz, one of the Republican congressmen opposing McCarthy’s bid, dismissed Trump’s latest attempt to help the California Republicans as “sad.”
“This changes either my view of McCarthy, Trump, or my vote,” Getz said in a statement to Fox News Digital Wednesday, shortly after Trump defended it. McCarthy in a Truth Social post.
As a longtime Trump ally, Gaetz’s refusal to Trump’s desire to serve as McCarthy’s spokesman raises new questions about the former president’s waning influence on the Trump administration. Republican amid his third presidential campaign
“If Matt Getz ignores you That’s not a good sign,” said one Trump ally involved in his 2024 campaign.
Trump has been calling on McCarthy’s behalf over the past 24 hours to try to break the blockade of conservatives opposing him. this person said But his efforts were in vain.
One congressman who spoke with Trump on Tuesday suggested the former president should run as a speaker himself. Trump has denied and continues to push the person to support McCarthy. claiming that he would be a sponsor “America First” firmly
This story and headline has been updated with more developments.
