Still No Speaker – McCarthy Opposed by Broad Coalition of Conservatives

Yesterday, the House of Representatives conducted two votes for Speaker, with no candidate garnering the requisite 217 votes necessary to become Speaker of the House and #3 in line to the presidency. With the 20 Republican holdouts standing firm – now behind my Congressman Rep. Byron Donalds – at 8:30 pm the House adjourned until Noon today.

There were, however, several interesting developments throughout the day.

First, CHQ and other conservatives issued calls to action after multiple media reports indicated Kevin McCarthy had frozen-out conservatives and was now cutting deals with Democrats to gain the votes necessary to become Speaker of the House.

As we said in our “FLASH CALL TO ACTION” if you prefer democracy to oligarchy, if you prefer real congressional debates about issues that actually matter, then we urge you to call the Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121 and tell Republican Representatives that you want a conservative Speaker who will fight for conservative principles, not a principle-free insider, like Kevin McCarthy, who will cut deals with Democrats and RINOs

Second, a broad coalition of conservative leaders and organizations (including ConservativeHQ.com) released a letter that, better than most of the floor speeches, outlined the reasons conservatives oppose the election of House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy.

Released by the Conservative Action Project the letter said:

Conservative organizations and the millions of grassroots conservatives we represent are united in our support of the 20 courageous members of Congress seeking to change the status quo in Washington.

Over the past decade, the House has grown increasingly autocratic. Rank and file members are routinely denied a chance to participate in the legislative process, committees are ignored, deals and loopholes for interests abound, and there is virtually no amendment process for any bills, large or small. The outcome reflects the process: bills that cater to a handful of members in leadership and K street lobbyists, but ignore the priorities of the voters.

Months ago, these members made clear that this established way of doing things was no longer acceptable. They made public a series of proposed reforms designed to democratize the House – to engage the broader membership in legislating, and bring accountability back to the People’s House.

Rather than engage them in a good faith negotiation, Rep. Kevin McCarthy has instead maligned both the requests and the messengers. He has publicly and through proxies leveled attacks against members of his own party, including threatening to deny committee assignments for those who continue to oppose him. Moreover, he has failed to answer for, or commit to halting, his coordinated efforts in the 2022 elections to promote moderate Republican candidates over conservatives.

Because of this, he has thus far failed to garner the 218 votes necessary to lead the House GOP conference in three separate rounds of voting. The job of the Speaker is to garner consensus among disparate factions of the party, and unite them.

These members represent the millions of voters across the country who are disgusted with the business-as-usual, self-interested governance in Washington. We stand behind them and beside them in their courageous efforts to find a Speaker of the House who will represent the interests of conservatives. We encourage more conservative members to join their ranks.

However, as conservative opposition to McCarthy seemed to gather steam – with several former McCarthy supporters moving from YES to not voting – one of the organizations that were early opponents of McCarthy’s leadership seemed to find a modus vivendi with McCarthy’s political operation.

The Club for Growth issued a statement late Wednesday afternoon with drawing opposition to McCarthy, saying:

Congressional Leadership Fund, the independent super PAC endorsed by Kevin McCarthy, and the Club for Growth, reached agreement on support for Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Statement from CLF President Dan Conston:

"Kevin McCarthy has effectively led House Republicans from the Minority to the Majority and we want to see him continue to lead the party so we can pick up seats for the third cycle in a row.

"CLF will not spend in any open-seat primaries in safe Republican districts and CLF will not grant resources to other super PAC's to do so. CLF has never spent a dollar against a Republican incumbent before and obviously will continue that policy in the future.

"CLF will continue to support incumbents in primaries as well as challengers in districts that affect the Majority, which proved to be critical to winning the Majority in 2022.

Statement from Club for Growth President David McIntosh:

“This agreement on super PAC's fulfills a major concern we have pressed for. We understand that Leader McCarthy and Members are working on a rules agreement that will meet the principles we have set out previously. Assuming these principles are met, Club for Growth will support Kevin McCarthy for Speaker."

The statement’s focus on future political spending and support, as opposed to policy, caught many conservatives off guard, but the statement from the Club for Growth was not expected to change the votes of any of the 20 House Republicans currently backing Byron Donalds for Speaker.

As the House members filed off the floor after the motion to adjourn passed, rumors swirled that the major sticking points for McCarthy opponents remained McCarthy’s refusal to commit to oversight of Deep State agencies, such as the FBI, the January 6 documents and videos and McCarthy’s insistence that he, as Speaker, retain final approval of all subpoenas.

We urge CHQ readers and friends to call the Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121 and tell Republican Representatives that you oppose principle-free California Representative Kevin McCarthy for Speaker of the House. Tell them you want a conservative Speaker who will fight for conservative principles, not a principle-free insider who will cut deals with Democrats and RINOs.

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