House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)
- In a major reversal, Kevin McCarthy has decided to support restoring a rule that allows a motion from the floor of the House of Representatives to "vacate the chair" and force a vote on a new Speaker
- Previously, McCarthy opposed the rule, saying it would severely weaken the power of a Speaker to control his or her party caucus
- The pressure of the Biggs-led caucus and the razor-thin majority handed to the Republicans in the November midterm election forced McCarthy to make concessions to the House Freedom Caucus
Weber said there is still concern among many of his colleagues that bringing back the vacate the chair motion will introduce more confusion in the House at just the wrong time.
- "The problem with that is, do the math, you get with 222 to 212, you literally could change the Speakership of the House to Democrat from Republican if you had five or six Republicans who would vote with the Democrats."
Other procedural issues still must be decided
- Whether a majority of members present or the majority of the House would be required to carry a motion to vacate
- Weber said his preference would be that, rather than going straight to a vote on a new speaker after a vacate motion passes, the issue would go to the majority party's conference.
McCarthy got some discouraging news on Sunday when six House Republicans, including Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), the House Freedom Caucus Chairman, and three incoming GOP freshmen, signed a letter indicating continuing dissatisfaction with the Californian, despite his recent concessions.
- "Regrettably, despite some progress achieved, Mr. McCarthy's statement comes almost impossibly late to address continued deficiencies ahead of the opening of the 118th Congress on January 3rd," the letter stated.
In addition to Perry, the signers include:
- Paul Gosar of Arizona
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