MITCH V. MCCARTHY: Republican rift widens as McCarthy threatens GOP senators
Responding to a letter posted on Twitter and signed by thirteen Republican hardliners who oppose the omnibus spending bill that would keep the government running for the next year, Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) offered his full endorsement and said any senator who votes for it will automatically have their bills discarded in the House once he becomes speaker.
It’s yet another move by McCarthy, it seems, to shore up votes for himself as he is still struggling to find 218 votes to make him Speaker of the House in January.
Yet, it also contributes to a growing chasm between McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who has accused the current House Minority leader of backpedaling on the framework of a deal that had been worked out with Democratic leaders at a White House meeting on November 29.
The thirteen Republicans who signed the letter insist that no such omnibus should be passed, accusing Congress of uncontrolled spending and noting that our $32 trillion debt now exceeds our gross national product.
The omnibus would need ten Republican votes in the Senate to get past the filibuster, and the hardline House members who signed the letter have promised to “whip opposition” against it to ensure that it fails.
McCarthy, for his part, now says that they should pass a continuing resolution until he can take over the speakership in January.
Yet, this would undoubtedly cause a major battle with the Democratic-controlled Senate, which is what leaders were hoping to avoid by passing the omnibus before Christmas.
The bill is over 4,000 pages, which means that — since it was just released — neither McCarthy nor the “Hard 13” have truly had time to go through it.
They would argue, though, that this is part of the problem: that the bill has been rushed through without any real ability to consider its provisions.
There may be some legitimacy to that, but much of the delay can be laid at the foot of the GOP, which has sought to obstruct pretty much everything Joe Biden has proposed and has repeatedly threatened not to raise the debt ceiling, putting the entire economy under the gun.
It’s also noteworthy, of course, that the GOP was unusually quiet while the tax breaks granted to the wealthy were passed under the Trump administration at an enormous cost to the rest of the country.
It’s also fair to say, considering his past support for the omnibus (though he denies he ever supported it), that McCarthy’s new-found love for massive spending cuts is more tactical than ideological: he needs the support of the Hard 13 if he wants to have any chance of succeeding as speaker.
Agreed. Except no need to whip—when I’m Speaker, their bills will be dead on arrival in the House if this nearly $2T monstrosity is allowed to move forward over our objections and the will of the American people. https://t.co/WCC477R4IM
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) December 20, 2022
Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA) made sure to fire a shot at Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) for the letter and for any deal he might make with McCarthy.
Chip — you’re going to vote for @GOPLeader McCarthy for Speaker and show all of us how weak and irrelevant you are. Once that happens you should just resign from Congress. Your empty threat tweets land on no one.
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) December 20, 2022
McCarthy still has an uphill battle, and surely there will be more conflicts between him and his counterparts in the Senate.
But don’t underestimate his ability to sell his heart, soul, and whatever is left of his integrity to make a deal.
Kevin probably detests Ross with a passion. But you can follow him on Twitter as he gives more hell to the Republicans! @RossRosenfeld
