Leader Kevin McCarthy looked to “lower the temperature” amid tensions as the speaker’s race dragged into its fourth day, with the California Republican walking through a possible agreement on rules that swayed many but not all of his defectors during a conference call on Friday.
McCarthy told members that he would “appreciate it if everyone” showed respect to one another “both in public and private as we continue through this process,” noting that their meeting on Tuesday was “heated.” He “could have turned it down” himself, he said, according to a source on the call.
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The call came in the wake of McCarthy meeting with defectors on Thursday as he faced his 10th failed ballot, asserting that he would not drop out of the race as his critics continued to demand changes to back him on the floor.
Fourteen Republicans dropped their opposition to his candidacy on the 12th ballot, with McCarthy earning a plurality of votes for the first time.
On the call, McCarthy dismissed rumors that he and Rep. Chip Roy have reached a deal but applauded the Texas Republican’s handling of talks. He assured members that the only change to the rules package is dropping the threshold for the motion to vacate the chair, a mechanism used to oust a sitting speaker, from five members to one, adding that no promises have been made for committee gavels, a source on the call told the Washington Examiner.
As conservatives call for inclusion on more “A” committees, McCarthy told the conference that he “always thought that we’ve got to have everybody on different committees … and this goes for everybody in the conference,” pointing to his decision to back Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) for the top position on the House Judiciary Committee and place House Freedom Caucus member Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) on the powerful House Rules Committee, the source said.
Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) walked members through plans to attempt to balance the budget before Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) dispelled a rumor floating that Roy is going to be Rules Committee chairman, saying Roy doesn’t want to be on the Rules Committee and has not made any “requests for himself,” a source familiar said.
Sources familiar said Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) questioned why there wasn’t an in-person meeting, stating that it might be easier to reach a consensus in a face-to-face setting, with McCarthy responding that he wanted to get members on the phone to “calm the tone down” first.
One source said Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) raised concerns that they may be “backing ourselves back into sequestration,” and Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR), a senior member of the Budget Committee, inquired about earmarks, proposing “an executive group of cardinals” to oversee “earmarks and be able to talk them out if there’s something that rises to the Bridge to Nowhere.”
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And Lesko questioned whether the language on the motion to vacate the chair allowed for Democrats to use the procedural tool, with McCarthy telling her that it would be restored to its original form but that he is not concerned about members across the aisle misusing it, a source confirmed.
While McCarthy saw significant success in flipping defectors on the first ballot Friday, he still fell short of the 218 needed to get him the gavel.
