CNN
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House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy still doesn’t have enough voting commitments to be the next speaker after nearly an hour-long phone call with various factions at the Republican convention.
McCarthy is rushing to contain the vote ahead of a House vote to elect a new speaker on Tuesday.
The conference call, described by multiple sources as collegial, focused on some of the same issues that had been undermining within the Republican Party for weeks. has promised to continue, but lawmakers acknowledge there are still major issues to be resolved.
“The rules are still being debated. We don’t have a concrete package to show at the moment,” one Republican lawmaker told CNN. “But with support, we might get some agreement.”
Republicans in the House have debated whether to reinstate arcane rules that give all members the power to vote to oust the incumbent speaker at any time. So-called motions are seen as likely to be used by the right wing to impede his ability to lead meetings and govern effectively.
But in another breakthrough, McCarthy said he would be open to advancing a commission to investigate federal activity and investigate political partisan activity in agencies such as the FBI and the Department of Justice.
It’s still unclear what form the commission will take, but it was the biggest request from conservatives such as Rep. Chip Roy of Texas. While this would focus the myriad of investigations into the Biden administration into a single panel, the idea came from soon-to-be chairmen of the committee, who have already begun working on planned investigations into the House Republicans. You may face resistance.
Another concern is whether the various concessions will get enough votes to make McCarthy chairman. In a positive sign for McCarthy, another Republican lawmaker said some Republicans who previously considered themselves fenced in are now leaning toward McCarthy based on ongoing negotiations. He said he made the announcement in a phone call on Friday.
Virginia Rep. Morgan Griffiths said in a statement Friday evening that he supported McCarthy.
Hardline House Liberal Caucus Griffiths on Friday’s conference call said McCarthy needed a “single purpose rule for legislation” and a “stricter German rule”. Said he agreed to another change.
“One bill should not be a collection of issues totaling thousands of pages,” Griffiths said in a statement. “We believe these changes will dramatically improve the legislative process.” Since Leader McCarthy has agreed to these rule changes, I have agreed to vote for him as Speaker of the House.
In his motion to resign, McCarthy expressed his willingness to lower the threshold to five. However, a source told CNN there was “deep hesitation” from other members who feared the meeting would be held hostage in the coming months by lowering the threshold.
A source told CNN, “There were a lot of complaints about opening this backup.”
Allowing any member of the House of Representatives to hold a floor vote to oust the incumbent Speaker, exercised on former Speaker John Boehner before he was forced out of office by the Far Right in 2015. I am looking for a process.
McCarthy is adamantly opposed to reinstatement of the “motion to vacate the chair,” and a majority of House Republicans voted against it in a closed-door meeting in November.