The battle for Speaker of the House raged in Congress all last week.
Donald Trump made his opinion known and it gave Kevin McCarthy a big smile on his face when he saw what Donald Trump posted on Truth Social.
Kevin McCarthy finally garnered the votes needed to become Speaker of the House.
But only after a bold group of 20 conservatives put America first and humiliated McCarthy by refusing to support the establishment candidate until he’d agreed to a long list of conservative reforms.
In the end McCarthy was forced to agree to virtually all of conservative holdout’s demands, including standing rules that will severely weaken the Speaker’s power over the GOP caucus and, as a result, the establishment’s power over the House agenda.
For the first time in 100 years, the House adjourned without picking a Speaker on the first day of a new Congress.
The now resolved stalemate in the Speaker’s election broke out because McCarthy refused to agree to all of the conservatives’ demands which would give the Party’s grassroots more power in the House over the Swamp than has been seen in at least a decade.
Here’s how badly McCarthy got beat
House Freedom Caucus has ~45 members (20%) but got 3 out of 9 GOP seats on all-powerful Rules Cmte (33%)
KM only wanted to give 2
3 is *HUGE* b/c it’s Veto power on *every* bill
Freedom Caucus will now control every single bill in House
BAM
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) January 6, 2023
Despite losing in the first three rounds of voting, McCarthy still claimed he was the only Republican who could get the votes needed to replace Pelosi.
“Is there anybody in the conference that can win?” McCarthy told reporters. “I don’t think that’s there. So we can go ‘round and ‘round. It will either turn out that someone will make a mistake and they’ll elect a Democrat or we’re going to find a way to work together to be able to govern.”
McCarthy also noted that Trump “has already reiterated his support” when asked about the former President.
In fact, Trump doubled down on his original support for McCarthy after the first day of voting with a post on his Truth Social platform.
“Some really good conversations took place last night, and it’s now time for all of our GREAT Republican House Members to VOTE FOR KEVIN, CLOSE THE DEAL, TAKE THE VICTORY, & WATCH CRAZY NANCY PELOSI FLY BACK HOME TO A VERY BROKEN CALIFORNIA,THE ONLY SPEAKER IN U.S. HISTORY TO HAVE LOST THE “HOUSE” TWICE! REPUBLICANS, DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT. IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE, YOU DESERVE IT. Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB – JUST WATCH!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The all caps endorsement from Trump came before McCarthy had even agreed to relinquish a modicum of the Swamp power he craved.
To their credit, the conservatives refused to listen until McCarthy agreed to the conservative reforms.
In the last election, Trump endorsed the leadership that failed Republicans, leaving many of his supporters upset with him over it.
Longtime Trump supporter Matt Gaetz showed the House conservatives were serious about the rules reforms by going so far as to nominate Trump for Speaker in one round of voting after Trump’s plea that he vote for McCarthy.
Gaetz and others’ refusal to go-along-to-get-along didn’t sit well with McCarthy and his supporters in the establishment.
Especially after McCarthy was confident he’d secured the votes to win in the 14th round on Friday only to see Gaetz stand pat.
Rep. Hudson, R-N.C., left, pulls Rep. Rogers, R-Ala., as he confronts Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., during the 14th round of voting for speaker as the House meets for the fourth day to try and elect a speaker in Washington, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (@AP Photo/@andyharnik) pic.twitter.com/ok3K8ERtfU
— Andrew Harnik (@andyharnik) January 7, 2023
McCarthy has always been a member of the Swamp who worked against grassroots conservatives.
And that is why, until McCarthy’s eleventh hour capitulation to secure the votes in the 15th round, Trump’s effort to convince the holdout conservatives to support McCarthy failed.
Longtime Trump supporter Matt Gaetz showed the House conservatives were serious about the rules reforms by going so far as to nominate Trump for Speaker in one round of voting after Trump’s plea that he vote for McCarthy.
That seriousness was further evidenced by Conservative Montana Rep. Matt Rosendale, waving off a phone call from Trump prior to voting “present” in the 14th vote when fellow House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Melora Taylor Greene (R-GA) attempted to hand over her phone which showed “DT” on the line.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, holds her smart phone with former US President Donald Trump on the line, as Rep. Matt Rosendale, a Republican from Montana, waves it off during a meeting of the 118th Congress in the House Chamber on Friday.#SpeakerVote pic.twitter.com/VWvOGfXd9Q
— Al Drago (@Al_Drago) January 7, 2023
The bold move showed the conservative Congressman was willing to risk drawing the ire, and a likely primary challenge, from some disgruntled backers of the former President in his state.
Of course, many will likely come to understand the 3D chess that was at play that Trump could have even been in on.
Whatever the case, it sent a powerful message that seemingly helped convince McCarthy at least that the conservative holdouts were serious.
For Taylor Green’s part, her early and vocal support for McCarthy could be seen as a master stroke that helped ensure Trump would stay by McCarthy’s side, allowing the conservative holdouts to leverage that to get a rules package that by all accounts stands will fundamentally reform how business in the House is done.
Political Animal News will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
