CNN
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House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy outlined some of the concessions he agreed to in his bid for speaker on a Sunday night conference call — including making it easier to oust the speaker, according to multiple GOP sources on the call. But McCarthy couldn’t say whether he would get votes for the speaker’s seat, even after making concessions to some of the right’s toughest demands.
Shortly after the call, a group of nine hardliners — who outlined their demands to McCarthy last month — sent a new letter saying some of the concessions he announced were not enough and making it clear they still don’t believe him, despite They did say progress was being made.
“So far, specific commitments to virtually every component of our pleading are still lacking, and as such, it is impossible to measure whether commitments were kept or breached,” the members wrote in the letter we obtained.
The group is still pushing to give a single lawmaker the power to call for a vote to remove the speaker, they also want to promise that leadership won’t play a role in primaries, and more. With McCarthy only able to lose four votes in the House, that means he has a lot of work to do before Tuesday.
The California Republican told his members on a conference call Sunday that after weeks of negotiations, he agreed to a minimum of five people to trigger a vote to remove the Speaker at any given time, known as the “Remove Speaker’s Vote.” Motion” chair, and called it a “compromise.” CNN first reported last week that he supported the threshold.
Some moderates — who feared the withdraw motion would be used as a sustained jab at McCarthy’s head — backed off and expressed their frustration on the call, the sources said.
Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota said he wasn’t happy with the low bar McCarthy agreed to, though he said he would accept it if it helped McCarthy win the speakership. Other members made clear that if McCarthy’s critics ultimately rejected his bid for the speakership, the negotiated package of rules would be set aside.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida pressed McCarthy on whether a concession to the withdrawal motion would win him 218 votes. But he did not answer directly, although McCarthy said earlier in the call that people were “slowly” moving in the right direction.
Later in the call, however, the Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz — one of five “firmly no” votes for McCarthy — said they would not support McCarthy despite all the concessions made.
Rep. Carlos Jimenez (D-Fla.) then repeated Diaz-Balart’s question, demanding an answer from McCarthy. According to sources, McCarthy’s response was that they had a few days to get the deal done and they needed to get it done.
Rep. Mike Lawler of New York asked Gates whether he would support McCarthy if he agreed to bring the motion to remove the threshold to a single lawmaker, a rule change in California Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Gates replied that McCarthy rejected the idea but would consider it if he made the offer now.
McCarthy said he disagreed with Gates’ characterization, arguing that other members of the meeting could not support a threshold as low as one. “It’s not about me,” the California Republican said. However, when he asked Gates if he could “go for it” if McCarthy came down to a one-man threshold, Gates remained noncommittal, saying he would take it if it was a real offer.
House Republicans are planning to release their final rule package later Sunday night, which would formalize some of those concessions. But sources caution that nothing is truly final until the package is passed.
After the House elects a speaker and is sworn in, lawmakers will vote on a package of rules that determine how the chamber will operate.