Conservatives in the House say they may be willing to back House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in his quest to be the next House speaker if the Republicans agree to “concrete reforms” to the way GOP leaders run the chamber.
Dozens of GOP members met behind closed doors on Wednesday to discuss potential changes to the House rules, with conservatives demanding an end to the “top down” leadership style that requires everyone to follow the orders of a handful of elected leaders.
Conservatives, who have been holding back support for McCarthy, said they want Republicans to commit to changes to the rules before the House votes to elect a new speaker at the end of the month.
Among the changes conservatives are seeking is an end to the practice of punishing members for voting against leadership orders.
“Right now, even in committee, if you vote against the chairman, you are punished,” Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, said. “That should never happen.”
Conservatives came to the Tuesday rules huddle with a lists of changes. One change would allow House committee members to elect panel chairmen and chairwomen. Currently those positions are decided by the speaker.
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, wants to shrink the speaker’s voting strength on the GOP Steering Committee. He also wants to hold a vote of confidence on the current Republican leadership team after each congressional election year.
Gohmert called the meeting, “a family discussion about the rules.”
Republican leaders appeared open to rules changes, but made no immediate commitments.
They discussed appointing a committee to study the issue, which seemed to fall flat with conservative seeking changes ahead of the speaker’s election.
“They have to be concrete, specific changes that are made before the vote, not promises of changes in the future,” said Rep. Justin Amash, R- Mich.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who is chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said the group will unite behind one candidate to leverage their power to win changes in the House rules.
“You get some change with the way things work around here before the vote, that is what we are hoping to do,” Jordan said. “We are working on that.”
Freedom Caucus members said they have provided a list of proposed changes to the candidates, who include House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., in addition to McCarthy.
