The Tea Party: The Role of Correlations in the 2016 Republican-Democratian Referendum to the House of Representatives
The size of his majority and willingness to cut deals with conservatives will be the most important things to consider when deciding on a speaker. McCarthy has not given any promises or given any ultimatums, and sources say that he has 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.
Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado said it was a “red line” for her, but not everyone in the Freedom Caucus is united on whether to make that a hard line.
The tensions inside the party have been worsened by the group trying to get concessions from McCarthy. A senior GOP lawmaker said they are a bunch of selfish, a**holes who want attention for themselves. They are trading effectiveness for the warm embrace of their social media followers.”
The Virginia Republican said that there would be a challenge to McCarthy as a speaker candidate and that they were considering it.
CNN has yet to project which party will have control of the House of Representatives, though as of Friday morning, CNN has projected that Republicans have 211 seats to Democrats’ 198.
Recriminating against McCarthy: The Key to Breaking the Fate of the Senate Minority Caucus and Running the State of the Art
Norman said the group hopes to formalize a lengthier list of all the rules changes they are seeking. McCarthy is not expected to delay next week’s internal leadership elections.
Norman said the taxpayers that voted the representatives in deserved the credit.
But there is one member who said there is nothing McCarthy could do to get his vote. The Florida congressman said on his show that McCarthy wasn’t his first choice to lead, he was even in my top 100.
Gaetz said that with a slim majority, they shouldn’t start the C team. We need to place our star players in a position to shine, so that we can attract more people to our policies and ideas.
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.
And in the Senate, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has been calling his colleagues over the last several days to shore up his support as his team plans to plow forward with leadership elections on Wednesday despite grumbling by a faction of dissenters who are trying to slam the brakes after their midterm debacle. The GOP plans to have an air clearing session on Tuesday.
GOP sources familiar with the matter say a long-shot challenge to McCarthy is being considered by Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, who was a former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. McCarthy has a team ready for this possibility.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is among those calling for a delay in the Senate leadership election scheduled for Wednesday, saying it “doesn’t make any sense” to have them this week.
What are we doing right now, what are we doing wrong? What do we stand for?” Scott said Sunday on Fox News. “The leadership in the Republican Senate says you cannot have a plan, we’re just gonna run against how bad the Democrats are. And actually they cave into the Democrats. They are going to rush through an election. We haven’t even finished what’s happened in Georgia.”
The Republican Party has suffered a stunning reversal of fortunes, with leaders now scrambling to quell the rebellions in their ranks and explain why the election did not go their way. And the disappointing results have scrambled other leadership races as well, with Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota – the head of the House GOP’s campaign arm – now facing a tougher time becoming the House GOP whip, a position that will only become available if Republicans indeed capture the majority – still not a guarantee.
“They’ve been measuring the draperies, they’ve been putting forth an agenda. Nancy Pelosi said they have yet to win it on “State of the Union.” After the election is over, there will be decisions made by the parties as to how we go forward.
Behind the scenes, the finger pointing has already begun, and those conversations are likely to accelerate as the full House and Senate return to Washington this week for the first time since the midterm elections.
Trump and his allies have accused McConnell of recklessly spending in states that Republicans faced a tough time in in the general election, in order to keep their majority in the Senate.
Pat is retiring from the senate and said that there is a correlation between big losses and the candidates from the left-wing political movement. “I think my party needs to face the fact that if fealty to Donald Trump is the primary criteria for selecting candidates, we’re probably not going to do really well.”
McConnell and Scott have clashed when it comes to election strategy, with Scott opting to take a hands off approach while McConnell sounded the alarm about candidate quality.
When pressed on whether he would challenge McConnell for the top spot, Scott didn’t rule it out — even though he would have little chance of succeeding.
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 can’t afford to lose any of theLawmakers in the middle, so that poses some risks.
“Basic political physics says you can’t appease the moderates and HFC all at the same time,” one senior Republican told CNN. You have to hope it is not barbed wire if you straddle that fence.