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The 118th Congress is scheduled to begin at noon on Tuesday, but as of Monday night, the majority party in the House of Representatives is still split over who will preside over the house for the next two years.
Public divisions by House Republicans over incumbent leader Kevin McCarthy’s bid for House speaker have already gotten their newfound power off to a rocky start.
With only a slim majority of 222 seats, McCarthy can only afford to lose four members to win the gavel. So far, there are a total of 14 members of his caucus who have at least strongly suggested they will vote against him.
The disorder culminated in a late afternoon meeting between McCarthy, his allies and some of his critics, including representatives Matt Gaetz and Scott Perry.
At around 5 p.m. ET, Republican lawmakers were seen entering the Speaker’s chamber. McCarthy staff moved the furniture into that office earlier in the day in an apparent show of confidence, although it is reportedly standard protocol to move so early.
Gaetz told reporters the meeting was “brief and productive” but insisted he was still opposed to McCarthy, according to video taken by NBC News’ Haley Talbot.
He is one of five House Republicans who have vowed to vote against the Republican leader under any circumstances.
However, McCarthy allies such as House Majority Leader Tom Emmer expressed confidence after leaving the meeting.
“He’ll be the speaker,” Emmer told reporters, according to CBS News.
House Republicans Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert and Scott Perry were seen walking in and out of the Speaker’s Chamber, where current House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy was seen entering before winning the gavel on Tuesday.
McCarthy and his supporters have spent weeks trying to convince his critics, mostly conservatives on his right, to side with the California Republican. But they want concessions that the party’s moderates – and, until recently, McCarthy himself – have been unwilling to make.
In a Sunday letter to his colleagues, McCarthy announced several key concessions, including a motion to vacate the presidency with a five-vote threshold in exchange for support from the entire conference.
Under the currently proposed rules, it would allow five House Republicans to call to vote for a new president. Moderates argued that it would fuel instability within the conference, comparing it to hanging a sword of Damocles over the head of the party leader.
But later that night, a group of nine other current and incoming House Republicans signed a letter calling McCarthy’s concessions announcement “almost impossibly late.”
Multiple reports have indicated that conservatives will support McCarthy’s No. 2, Rep. Steve Scalise, in the California Republican’s place.
With only 222 Republicans in the new Congress, McCarthy can afford to lose just four votes to remain elected president.
It has been reported that McCarthy’s current No. 2 (right), incoming House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (left), could be the Conservatives’ pick as an alternative to McCarthy for the office of speaker.
However, vowing to further fuel the chaos, moderate Republican Rep. Don Bacon suggested Monday night that such a riot would not be easy.
According to CBS, Bacon told reporters he is considering nominating an outgoing current member of Congress for president if the “Never Kevin” five Republicans introduce Scalise to McCarthy.
Bacon wrote an opinion piece in the daily call on Monday, he called McCarthy’s leadership “excellent” but reaffirmed that he was willing to work with Democrats to find an alternative should the rebellion against McCarthy succeed.
“Much has been made of me saying that I would work with moderate Democrats to elect a more moderate speaker,” Bacon wrote.
“But my actual words were that if the five refuse to unite around what the vast majority of the conference wants, I’m willing to work across the aisle to find a likable Republican.”
While conservatives oppose him, McCarthy supporters appear to be looking for a plan B: Moderate Republican Rep. Don Bacon (pictured in 2021) has indicated multiple times that he would be open to negotiating with Democrats on a nominee for moderate Republican president if the California Republican’s candidacy went off the rails
McCarthy has had a wide spectrum of surrogates trying to win over holdouts in recent weeks, from traditional conservatives like Gingrich to Donald Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, allies of many of McCarthy’s biggest detractors.
But his strategy of pressuring detractors to conform and warning that a worse alternative was on the horizon seemed to do little to move the needle.
Greene wrote on Twitter after he also reportedly met with McCarthy on Monday night: “It’s unrealistic that people who claim to be America First are negotiating ‘Me First’ positions when it comes to the President’s Gavel.”
‘The base deserves the truth. They would be just as sick as me,” said the far-right lawmaker from Georgia.
But Rep. Andy Biggs, one of the five original ‘Never Kevin’ Republicans, tweeted after 8 p.m. limit.
“Our party still requires new leadership and I will continue to oppose McCarthy for Speaker of the House,” Biggs said.