Kevin McCarthy Refuses To Drop Out As He Still Sees A Path To Being Speaker

Kevin McCarthy still thinks that he could be the next Speaker of the House as he made a major concession to his opponents. McCarthy is refusing to drop out.

Robert Costa of CBS News tweeted:

Part of the reason the House GOP leadership wants to adjourn tonight is they feel they’re making progress with some HFC members on a possible set of parameters for some of the critics to vote “aye” or at least present. Want to give HFC members time to think thru tonight’s talks.

— Robert Costa (@costareports) January 5, 2023

The House is going to adjourn until noon ET on Thursday which means that the possibility exists for a third day of no new congress being sworn in.

Rep. McCarthy made a major concession to those who are voting against him by promising not to participate in open seatHouse Republican primaries in safe Republican districts:

Significant development, per @MariannaReports: pic.twitter.com/HE2ItoMzzl

— Jacqueline Alemany (@JaxAlemany) January 5, 2023

McCarthy is the biggest elected fundraiser on the House Republican side. What he has promised to do will allow more MAGA extremists to win House seats. McCarthy is agreeing to not fund moderate or establishment candidates that can defeat extremists in so-called safe Republican districts.

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The agreement that McCarthy made appears to be very foolish as if a MAGA candidate is extreme enough, it could open the door to Democrats flipping safe-Republican districts.

This concession is not enough to get Kevin McCarthy elected speaker. The big request that the Never Kevins want is for a single member to be able to call for a vote to fire the speaker at any time.

Kevin McCarthy is giving away all of his power in exchange for a chance to be the weakest Speaker of the House in modern American political history.

It still does not look likely that McCarthy will be able to cobble together enough votes without putting himself on the chopping block.

Kevin McCarthy has paralyzed the House because he refuses to step aside, and there is talk that if a resolution is not reached soon, this debacle could drag into next week.

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association