House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy Thursday said he won’t try to oust Speaker Nancy Pelosi through an obscure procedural motion, rejecting a proposal from the GOP’s most conservative faction.
Instead, Republicans have introduced a discharge petition to force a vote to allow small businesses to access existing coronavirus aid.
The House Freedom Caucus came up with the scheme this week to try to remove Pelosi, a California Democrat, through a little-used resolution that would have likely been blocked by House Democrats.
McCarthy, a California Republican, declined to make the unprecedented attempt to remove his political opponent and told reporters the best way to replace Pelosi is to beat Democrats at the polls in November and regain the House majority.
“Forty-something days from now, we will remove them,” McCarthy said.
While Democrats would have almost certainly blocked a resolution to remove Pelosi, the vote may have attracted some centrist Democrats in closes races to side with the GOP.
Most of the Democratic caucus supports Pelosi, including many of the 15 Democrats who voted against her successful bid for speaker in January 2019.
Centrists are now frustrated with Pelosi over a stalled deal on a new round of coronavirus aid, which would likely include a new round of stimulus checks, small-business aid, and perhaps higher federal unemployment insurance payments.
Pelosi has been unwilling to lower her initial asking price of $2.2 trillion for a new federal aid package, which Republicans say is too high.
“I know there are a few Democrats out there who are very upset with Nancy Pelosi,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said Democrats eager to facilitate a deal should sign a new GOP discharge petition, which with the signatures of the majority of House lawmakers would force coronavirus aid legislation to the House floor for a vote.
Rep. Jamie Herrera Beutler, a Washington Republican, introduced the discharge petition, which would force a vote on a measure that would allow small businesses to access the $134 billion remaining in a loan program funded in a previous coronavirus aid bill that Congress passed earlier this year.
“Now is an opportunity to show that they really mean what they say,” McCarthy said. “We’ll see how many sign the discharge petition because I think Americans are fed up with political posturing and empty words. They want action, and Republicans are ready to lead.”
Pelosi told reporters Thursday that Democrats have already worked to compromise by reducing the cost of their package.
“We asked them to go up a trillion dollars. Instead, they went down, not recognizing the need,” Pelosi said. “We then further went down and said we’ll meet you halfway. And that’s where we are.”
Pelosi said that “the needs have only grown” as the coronavirus outbreak and economic slowdown have persisted. Pelosi said some of the nearly $3 trillion in federal aid approved earlier this year will have to be reallocated.
“We shouldn’t be going down because we have these needs,” Pelosi said.
