McCarthy touts early House momentum as biggest challenges lie ahead

David Sivak

April 17, 07:28 PM April 17, 07:28 PM

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) took a victory lap on Monday, touting House Republicans' legislative accomplishments 100 days after they assumed control of the lower chamber in January.

Republicans have passed a series of symbolic bills in the early days of the new Congress, including their top legislative priority, the Lower Energy Costs Act. But the party has also managed to send five measures to President Joe Biden’s desk, three of which have become law.

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McCarthy, flanked by his leadership team, hailed the legislative wins at a Monday evening press conference as evidence the party is following through on its "Commitment to America," a governing blueprint Republicans ran on in the midterm elections.

"One thing that is abundantly clear is the People’s House is a productive House again," McCarthy declared.

In remarks that were laced with barbs at Democrats, McCarthy said the GOP-led House is "showing up for work," alluding to the end of the pandemic-era practice of proxy voting. He drew a contrast between Republicans' signature energy bill and Democrats' top legislative priority in the last Congress — a voting rights and campaign finance reform bill that McCarthy painted as a cynical attempt to "make it easier for them to get reelected."

His harshest words were reserved for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), whom he taunted for moving at a slower legislative pace in his first 100 days.

"As the House has passed a bill to fire 87,000 IRS agents, Sen. Schumer's Senate passed a nonbinding resolution recognizing the importance of maple syrup production to Maine," McCarthy said.

But he also emphasized the bipartisan votes many GOP-led measures received, including the creation of the select committee on China and a bill banning the sale of petroleum from the strategic reserve to China.

"House Republicans are accomplishing a lot in a bipartisan, productive fashion," McCarthy said.

Republicans got off to a rocky start to the 118th Congress, taking 15 rounds to elect McCarthy as speaker of the House amid opposition from hard-line members of the conference. Since then, they have mustered the votes to advance key priorities, including a so-called Parents Bill of Rights.

More striking has been Republicans’ ability to enact GOP legislation despite Democrats controlling the Senate and White House. They successfully overturned the District of Columbia’s revised criminal code, which would have lowered penalties for offenses ranging from carjackings to homicide, after Biden reversed his opposition to the measure.

And lawmakers voted to end the national emergency for COVID-19, viewed as a symbolic win for Republicans given the White House was slated to sunset the declaration a little more than a month later.

Yet despite the momentum Republicans have had in their first 100 days, the party has been unable to advance several of the 11 “ready-to-go” measures GOP leadership had expected to pass in the first two weeks of the new majority.

That includes a border security package that led to public infighting between two Texas Republicans, Reps. Chip Roy and Tony Gonzales, over language on asylum claims. In a sign the party is ready to move past the impasse, the House Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on the border legislation on Wednesday without the controversial asylum provisions.

But the biggest challenges lie ahead for House Republicans as Washington barrels toward a crisis over the debt ceiling.

McCarthy's "100 days" press conference came the same day he traveled to Manhattan to deliver a major speech on the borrowing limit before the New York Stock Exchange. The speaker is demanding spending cuts in exchange for a ceiling hike despite Biden's refusal to offer concessions.

House GOP leadership, in a bid to show it's serious about the cuts, is cobbling together support for a set of demands it plans to pass through the House sometime in May. That list may include rolling back next year's budget to fiscal 2022 levels — in effect, a $130 billion cut — and work requirements for entitlement programs.

With just four votes to spare in the lower chamber, McCarthy will have to navigate the calls of hard-line members of his conference with the reservations of centrist Republicans up for reelection in swing districts.

McCarthy addressed the brinkmanship in concluding his press conference, vowing to move the GOP proposal through the lower chamber.

"The House will take a leadership position, and we will move to make the fiscal house of America more secure by passing a debt ceiling and sending it to Schumer," he said. "We know it may disrupt his ability to pass more resolutions, but we look forward to him bringing the bill up and passing it to make sure America is more secure."

Could the House agree to a 'unity candidate' for speaker?

Samantha-Jo Roth

January 06, 06:35 AM January 06, 06:36 AM

After GOP divisions led to successive failed ballots for speaker, Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) said centrist Republicans could be “willing to consider working with Democrats at some point” to elect a centrist speaker if the stalemate continues, although other Republicans say that idea is off the table.

There’s been talk about what would be a nightmare scenario for the band of conservatives who continue to reject GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)’s bid for speaker. That potential outcome still seems a long way off, but fatigue is beginning to set in after negotiations have failed to produce a breakthrough.

Bacon, who represents a district won by President Joe Biden, has consistently voted for McCarthy over 11 failed ballots. However, he has publicly floated the idea of working with Democrats on a consensus pick if Republican holdouts continue to be unwilling to compromise.

“They can’t get to yes on anything. But, at some point, we know that there comes a time when you’re going to have to work with Democrats and it’s going to be a Republican speaker. But, it’s going to have to involve some concessions to get there,” Bacon said to reporters right off the floor of the House chamber on Thursday evening.

The Nebraska congressman hasn’t ruled out supporting an ex-member for speaker if McCarthy were to withdraw from the race. In mid-December, he said they could consider former Reps. Fred Upton (R-MI) and John Katko (R-NY) as alternatives. While he said there aren’t serious negotiations on this front currently, he’s received phone calls from former members asking to be considered for the job.

“If Kevin pulls his name, I think some of these folks are options. Fred Upton’s a potential guy up the road,” Bacon said. “Some of them are calling me, saying, ‘Please consider me.’ I’m all Kevin right now, but if Kevin refuses to be part of the team, I think some of these folks are options. This case is going to involve, how are you going to get to 218?”

Bacon reiterated his problems with what the holdouts are asking for, such as their desired committee assignments:

“We’re not going to do affirmative action for the smallest caucus we have. You gotta earn it; you’ve got to earn it by merit. So, that’s where most of us dig our heels in.”

In an interview with Fox Business on Thursday, Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) noted that “the frustration is through the roof” and warned that it has led to preliminary conversations about power sharing and compromise between some centrist Republicans and Democrats.

“I am absolutely against it. But, there are discussions going on with the Democrats about sharing committees, about not allowing subpoenas, about having a 1-to-1 ratio of Republican and Democrat,” he said. “Some of our moderates are getting fed up in Biden districts. They get a voice too, and they are starting to talk about power sharing. That’s what folks like my friend Rep. Bishop and the others need to realize. They are going to find another door.”

But many Republicans in the caucus say such a deal is unlikely, pointing out most members ideologically have more in common with the anti-McCarthy holdouts than with the centrist Democrats.

“That scenario is never going to happen,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) to reporters. “We can talk about shadowy alternative candidates that may come out of nowhere. But, right now, Kevin McCarthy is still holding on the strongest here.”

“So, when you see so many of us spending time in a passionate way, talking on that floor, I think it’s evidence of the fact that there is still a path forward for Kevin McCarthy," he added. "If people had just decided to get divorced, they would quit talking.”

Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) told NBC News building a coalition with Democrats to elect a speaker is “off the table.”

“I don’t think anyone voted to do that. I don’t think that works very well in any time. I think it’s particularly unsuited to these times. The polarization is too great,” he said.

Democrats remain united behind incoming House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on all ballots for speaker. When asked if Democrats have discussed making demands in exchange for helping Republicans gather enough votes to elect a consensus candidate, Jeffries said the short answer is no during a press conference on Thursday morning.

Some Democrats have started conversations about compromise with Republicans, but those discussions are not gaining much traction.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said she wouldn’t rule out working with Republicans to resolve the speaker battle. The New York congresswoman said Democrats would need more concessions from Republicans beyond increasing committee ratios in order to gain their cooperation.

“I mean, hey, if we could get some chairs,” she said to reporters following a Democratic caucus meeting Wednesday afternoon.

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Other Democrats, such as Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), said he would be open to giving Republicans a lifeline from the speakership drama in an interview with WHD News.

"I would consider the right Republican," Khanna told WHD News's Neil Cavuto. "But there needs to be two conditions: One, you can’t have a debt ceiling debate or shut down as something that takes the country hostage, and two, [there has] to be some agreement on subpoena power. I’m open to a Republican who could work to put the interests of the American people first."

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With negotiations ongoing, it appears centrist House Republicans are not, at this point, serious about utilizing their leverage and cutting a deal with Democrats. The showdown over electing the next speaker could foreshadow how centrist Republicans may interact with their colleagues in future political battles, like raising the country’s $31.4 trillion borrowing limit this coming spring or summer or funding the government. Some anti-McCarthy rebels are already threatening to derail those must-pass bills unless they are attached to conservative priorities.

“The debt ceiling. I’ve got some concerns about how negotiations are going to go over that in our caucus. But, we’ll get to that point when we get there,” Bacon said.