Kentucky Republican delegation stays united behind Kevin McCarthy as Speaker vote drags on
All five Republican members of Kentucky’s House congressional delegation remained united behind Kevin McCarthy as his troubled bid to become speaker dragged into a fourth day on Friday.
Rep. James Comer, the incoming chairman of the House Committee on Oversight, delivered the nominating speech for McCarthy ahead of the 13th vote for the speakership.
“The American people deserve answers on Covid-19 and Speaker Kevin McCarthy has given the Republican majority the tools necessary to make that possible,” Comer said, accidentally crowning the California GOP leader speaker before he had acquired the votes.
On that 13th vote Friday afternoon, McCarthy again fell short of reaching a majority of votes cast.
Comer used his speech to detail the number of investigations he will steer once Republicans can complete their business of electing a leader to preside over the House. A small band of hardline conservatives have blocked McCarthy’s speakership, stalling all House business until that question is resolved.
In 13 rounds of voting which began on Tuesday and extended through Friday afternoon, Kentucky’s GOP House members have voted for McCarthy – even Rep. Thomas Massie, who has previously been involved in plots against GOP leadership.
In an interview just prior to the November midterm election, Massie said: “He’s never been the speaker so he hasn’t made any mistakes yet. There’s no transgression he needs to be held accountable for.”
“I also think, even though there are a lot of factors at play, typically the minority leader gets credit for taking the majority back because he has worked really hard at crossing the country and raising money and campaigning with candidates,” Massie told McClatchy.
Republicans ended up winning nine additional seats in the midterm, enough to recapture control but an underwhelming performance based on pre-election forecasts.
Rep. Andy Barr told CNN he agreed with some of the demands of the 20 members who opposed McCarthy through several rounds of voting, but said that McCarthy had yielded to many of their requests.
“At the end of the day I think he will be elected speaker,” Barr said. “The bulk of the conference, over 200 members, are sticking with Kevin McCarthy and those pro-McCarthy members do not want to reward a dysfunctional process that actually enables the Democrat minority.”
Some of the concessions under consideration are allowing just a single House member to call a vote to vacate the speaker, adding more members of the conservative Freedom Caucus to the powerful Rules Committee and trimming defense funding added to the 2023 omnibus bill.
Even if he eventually emerges with enough votes to secure the speakership, critics believe McCarthy will be a hostage to the most extreme whims of the Republican conference.