House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy threw into question whether or not House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may be able to keep her leadership position.
In an interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, McCarthy said the gains of House Republicans in the election might give them the ability to challenge Pelosi’s run for House speaker.
“To become speaker you have to have 218 votes on the floor. When she went up for that vote two years ago, there were 15 Democrats who voted against her. Ten of those Democrats will be coming back to Congress. If those 10 vote against her again, she will not be speaker of the House because she won’t have 218 because of the gains of Republicans,” McCarthy said on Sunday.
McCarthy didn’t rule out the potential idea that Republicans may take the majority in the House. “Remember Maria, we are less than 21,000 votes away where the House — we could win the majority. There are a number of seats, 10 seats that are still sitting out there. Republicans are leading in three — they haven’t called any of those. So why would you call the presidential race first?” McCarthy said.
Republicans, by and large, defied polling predictions and protected their presence in both chambers of Congress. Although Democrats are poised to remain a majority in the House, the GOP reclaimed several seats the party lost in 2018. The Senate majority still remains unknown, but Republicans appear to be on a path to hold their Senate majority.
If Pelosi’s leadership is cast into doubt and Senate Republicans keep their majority in the chamber, presumptive President-elect Biden would likely be forced to work across the aisle to pass coronavirus-related relief and compromise on some of his campaign promises in a state of divided government.
Last week, Pelosi sent her party colleagues a letter of congratulations on their “victory” in the election, praising them for “strengthening our Democratic House Majority.” In the letter, she asked them to support her re-election as House speaker.
“In that spirit, I am writing to request your support to be re-elected as Speaker. I do so with utmost respect for the diverse viewpoints in our Democratic Caucus, the gravity of this role the urgency of the challenges ahead. I also do so with the great joy and appreciation to so many of you who have already offered your support,” Pelosi wrote.
Pelosi also dismissed the idea that it would be harder to pass legislation with a weakened Democratic House majority. “It’s certainly possible to work with [Republicans], and now we have the upper hand because we have the presidency. They’re gonna have to come a lot closer to what we want than whatever President Trump wanted,” she said to reporters.
