Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich delivers a speech on the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 20, 2016. (John Moore/Getty Images)
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Jan. 2 criticized Republicans opposed Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) bid to command the speaker’s gravel, saying their refusal to back the GOP leader risks causing “chaos” within the party and Congress.
“I don’t understand what they’re doing. They’re not voting against Kevin McCarthy, they’re voting against over 215 members of their own conference,” Gingrich told Fox News.
“Their conference voted overwhelmingly, 85 percent, for McCarthy to be speaker, so this is a fight between a handful of people and the entire rest of the conference.”
The former congressman’s comment came as all 435 House members are headed to vote for their next speaker on Jan. 3, the first order of business for the newly convened Congress. But with just hours to go, it remains unclear if McCarthy will obtain enough votes to take hold of the gravel.
Earlier on Monday, Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), one of the five Republicans who said they were not going to vote for McCarthy under any circumstances, doubled down on his opposition. “I won’t be voting for Kevin McCarthy tomorrow. He’s part of the problem. He’s not part of the solution,” Good told Fox News.
Gingrich, who served as the speaker of the House of Representatives between 1995 to 1999, said those opposing McCarthy’s bid were seeking to “sink the whole Republican Party.”
“They’re saying they have the right to screw up everything,” Gingrich said. “The precedent that sets is … any five people can get up and say, ‘well, I’m now going to screw up the conference too.’”
“The choice is Kevin McCarthy or chaos,” he said. “And there’s nobody going to replace Kevin, because he has far more people totally dedicated to him than this handful of never-enders.”
“The result is going to be: anybody who tried to replace Kevin would face total chaos. It will be impossible to govern.”
Gingrich noted McCarthy had made multiple concessions to the group. Those changes include restoring a rule that allows a motion to “vacate the chair” which could force a vote on a new House speaker.
In response to the reform, several staunch conservatives issued an open letter saying McCarthy hadn’t gone far enough. “The times call for radical departure from the status quo—not a continuation of past and ongoing Republican failures,” the nine lawmakers, most of whome had expressed opposition to McCarthy, wrote in a Jan. 1 letter. “For someone with a 14-year presence in senior House Republican leadership, Mr. McCarthy bears squarely the burden to correct the dysfunction he now explicitly admits across that long tenure.”
In Monday’s interview, Gingrich said he thought “the Republican Party right now is in the greatest danger of meltdown than it’s been since 1964.”
U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) leaves a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington on Nov. 29, 2022. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
To be elected Speaker, McCarthy must win a majority, or 218 votes if the entire House was present on the floor. With a 222-218 majority, McCarthy could only afford to lose four votes from his caucus as no Democrats indicated they would vote for him.
Five Republicans have declared they are not going to back McCarthy. Aside from Good, those five include Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), and Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), who himself launched a bid for the speaker to challenge McCarthy.
The bulk of the Republican camp, however, has thrown their support behind the 57-year-old congressman. Around 100 current and incoming House Republicans have publicly stated that they would back McCarthy’s bid. “Kevin McCarthy is best prepared to lead the 118th Congress, and we are prepared to vote for him for as long as it takes,” Republican Main Street Caucus Chairman Dusty Johnson (R-S.C.) and vice chair Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.) wrote in a letter. Dozens of GOP House members associated with the panel will only vote for McCarthy, according to the two lawmakers.
McCarthy appeared to be optimistic amid challenges from his own party. “I think we’re going to have a good day tomorrow,” he told reporters on Monday, Reuters reported.
House Republicans are excepted to have a closed-door meeting before they vote for the new speaker on Tuesday morning.
Friends Read Free