Right-wing Republicans in the US House of Representatives are furious after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) struck a deal with the White House last week to lift the debt ceiling that didn’t include many of their pet issues. Now, they’re turning what should’ve been a victory lap for McCarthy into a nightmare.
“Kevin blew up the unity of the conference last week on the debt ceiling deal,” said Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC), a member of the Trump-aligned Freedom Caucus on the House GOP’s right wing.
He told US media that McCarthy had swapped “one coalition partner for another” by courting Democratic support for the debt ceiling bill instead of seeking to unify his Republican majority, and called for a new written agreement to govern how the House GOP would run the chamber.
Last week, as the deal was being finalized amid an impending government default, Bishop threatened to call for a vote of no confidence in McCarthy that would strip him of his gavel. The effort didn’t last, but it did foretell a renewed insurgency by the Freedom Caucus that has proven to be so much of a headache for the speaker since he assumed the mantle in January.
“The speaker formed a coalition with Democrats to get us a $4 trillion national debt. And I continue to be concerned because he hasn’t repudiated that coalition,” said Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), a prominent Freedom Caucus member. “And my guess is he’s prepared to do that again on the next three must-pass bills: Farm Bill, NDAA, and the budget.”
“House Leadership couldn’t Hold the Line,” tweeted Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), another caucus member who was one of the last GOP holdouts during McCarthy’s speaker race in January. “Now we Hold the Floor.”
The revolt includes about a dozen right-wing lawmakers, most of them from the Freedom Caucus, which doesn’t publicize its membership list. Together, they’ve ground House business to a halt, blocking what GOP leadership expected to be easily-passed bills, such as a rollback of White House regulations on gas stoves.
McCarthy accused the minority of taking “hostages,” telling them “you’re not going to get 100% of what you want.”
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), a strong McCarthy supporter, told US media that a push for a new fight over spending cuts planned for this fall is a “component” of the standoff, with the insurgent lawmakers demanding McCarthy commit to a hard-line position rather than another compromise with Democrats.
“In a narrow majority, individual members have an outsized power. And it’s not about an individual group - because the members that voted no on this rule, it’s not 100% the Freedom Caucus,” McHenry said. “Five members can have a really powerful role in this House.”
He added that a debate now might result in an “airing” of concerns that could “resolve internal tensions” in the House GOP bloc.
One of those promises was for McCarthy to turn the debt ceiling into a major political battlefield. The ceiling was reached just weeks after McCarthy became speaker, and the GOP refused to increase the ceiling without major spending concessions by the Democrats. A deal was finally reached on June 2, just days before economists warned the US government would likely default on its debts, triggering a financial crisis.