How Democratic is Sen. McCarthy? Where are we going? What will we learn from the outcome of McCarthy’s bid for the House of Representatives?

His ability to round up 218 votes for speaker will ultimately depend on two things: the size of his majority and whether he’s willing to cut deals with the conservatives that he assiduously courted after they denied him the speakership in 2015. So far, however, McCarthy has not made any promises or given in their demands, with sources saying he has just been in listening mode with potential holdouts.

“I’ve heard from multiple of my constituents who question the wisdom of proceeding forward with that leadership,” Biggs said, adding that there needs to be a “frank conversation” about who they elect for the top job.

The Freedom Caucus is not united on whether or not to make that a hard line for Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado who said it was a red line.

The push to get concessions from McCarthy has caused tension inside the party. Said one senior GOP lawmaker: “They are a bunch of selfish, prima dona a**holes who want attention for themselves. They are trading effectiveness for the warm embrace of their social media followers.”

The Virginia Republican also predicted that “there will be a challenge to (McCarthy) as a speaker candidate,” a possibility that CNN first reported was under consideration by the group.

CNN still does not project who will have control of the House of Representatives, but it has projected that Democrats will have 202 seats, while Republicans will have 206.

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Norman said the group hopes to formalize a lengthier list of all the rules changes they are seeking. McCarthy has not said if he will delay next week’s internal leadership elections.

When asked whether McCarthy should get credit for delivering the majority, Norman responded: “The taxpayers that voted the representatives in deserve the credit.”

But there is at least one member who has said there is nothing McCarthy could do to earn his vote. Matt Gaetz is a Republican from Florida and said on his podcasts that McCarthy wasn’t his first choice to lead.

“With a slim majority, we shouldn’t be starting the C team,” Gaetz said. We need to have our star players shine bright so that more people will come to us for ideas and policies.

Some of the Republicans speaking out now have previously enabled Mr. Trump and his policies, either through public support or silence. They were afraid of crossing the party’s base, and have long privately claimed to disdain Mr. Trump’s politics.

Now, the party is reaping political consequences. Several House races from Alaska and North Carolina were lost by Trump-backed candidates. On Saturday, Democrats clinched control of the Senate with a hard-fought re-election victory for Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada. Neither party was able to get a majority in the House.

Since Tuesday’s election, The Wall Street Journal editorial page and The New York Post — owned by the conservative media baron Rupert Murdoch — have called for Mr. Trump to be tossed aside. The lieutenant governor of Virginia and the speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly both supported Mr. Trump in the presidential race.

Moderate Republicans used the moment to criticize the party for plunging into conspiracy theories and divisive issues that light up the right-wing media. Romney wants to return to classic fiscal conservatism. Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire said during a SiriusXM Radio interview Friday that Mr. Trump risked “mucking up” the party’s chances of winning in Georgia.

It was time to move away from the pet issue of Mr. Trump, according toSenator Charles E. Grassley, who spoke at the Trump rally in Iowa days before the election. He said to stop talking in 2020.

Similar recriminations are taking place across the Capitol, where some House Republicans are questioning their leadership’s embrace of the MAGA wing, lack of a cohesive message on abortion, and decisions to spend precious resources in deep blue territory late in the game.

Democrats retained control of the Senate and McConnell is now facing more anger from his own party than ever before but he still has enough support to get another term leading the conference.

GOP sources told The Washington Post that a former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus is considering launching a challenge to McCarthy during the House GOP elections on Tuesday. McCarthy’s team has been prepared for this possibility.

The chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee is calling for a delay of the Senate leadership election scheduled for this week because it doesn’t make sense.

Scott said he has received a lot of inquires about whether or not he will run. We have to win Georgia if I want to focus on that. I will not take anything away from the table.

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Meanwhile, Trump aides and allies have been privately critical of Tom Emmer, head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, amid the GOP’s underwhelming midterm gains, especially on the House side. CNN has not yet projected which party will control the lower chamber, though Republicans appear on track to gain a narrow House majority. Emmer is competing against Rep. Jim Banks, an ally of Donald Trump Jr., for the position of House GOP whip.

“They’ve been measuring the draperies, they’ve been putting forth an agenda. They haven’t won it yet,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN’s “State of the Union.” There will be judgments made on how to proceed after the election is over.

As the Senate and House return to Washington this week, they will be talking about what went wrong, and the finger pointing will begin.

Trump and his allies have tried to make McConnell the fall guy for the GOP’s lackluster midterm performance, accusing McConnell of spending recklessly in states where Republicans faced significant headwinds at the expense of candidates in more competitive contests.

“There’s a very high correlation between MAGA candidates and big losses,” said retiring Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey. If fealty to Donald Trump is the primary criterion for selecting candidates, I think my party will probably not do well.

McConnell and Scott have been at odds all election season when it comes to strategy, with McConnell speaking about candidate quality while Scott avoided a hands off approach in the primaries.

Even though he had no chance of succeeding, Scott wouldn’t rule out contesting McConnell for the top spot.

GOP lawmakers think McCarthy will wait to see how the internal leadership elections play out before he starts cutting deals with the conservative hardliners. McCarthy cannot afford to lose anyone of his lawmakers in the middle, so it poses some risks for him.

One Republican told CNN that political physics says you can not appease the moderates and HFC at the same time. If you cross that fence, you should hope it isn’t barbed wire.

Trump spoke about McCarthy’s candidacy in an interview with Fox News last week and he has been working the phones to convince conservatives that he is a good leader.

A GOP source stated that Trump wanted to see which GOP lawmakers endorsed him in order to lock up public support for his third presidential bid.