House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is coming undone. He’s folding under the pressure.
Because Kevin McCarthy just dropped F-bombs in this stunning attack on his colleagues.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy vented his anger at the House Freedom Caucus on Thursday morning after meeting privately with Republican lawmakers and learning of their refusal to support a crucial defense budget package.
To get President Joe Biden to talk with them on issues like border security, the weaponization of the federal government, and abortion regulations, Freedom Caucus members believe they’re willing to use this law as leverage. They have also discussed the possibility of working to remove McCarthy from office.
If the spending measure isn’t passed by the end of the month, the United States government will shut down.
“Nobody wins in a government shutdown. Nobody wins. I’ve been here,” House Speaker McCarthy shared with reporters in D.C. “But what we want to do is we want to be able to win the policies that we’ve been fighting for and telling the American public we want to make sure our border becomes secure. We want to stop the runaway spending.”
By September 30th, the House needs to reach a compromise on the government financing bill so that it can be sent to the U.S. Senate and eventually to President Biden’s desk. If this doesn’t happen, the federal government will be forced to shut down due to a lack of funds.
McCarthy began the secret meeting with a defensive rant defending his position, even though the meeting was called so House Republicans could reportedly talk about their impeachment inquiry into Biden.
McCarthy reportedly told the Republicans, “If you think you scare me because you want to file a motion to vacate, move the f**king motion,” at the outset of the conference, as reported by Politico.
These remarks were made by the House speaker a day after Florida Republican Matt Gaetz publicly called him out for breaking the agreement that got him elected speaker in January.
On Wednesday, Gaetz said, “It’s put up or shut up time not just for McCarthy but for the 20 Republican representatives,” referencing a deal he helped negotiate in January to help McCarthy secure the Speakership.
“Because if we aren’t serious about bringing him into compliance with the deal, then we were never really serious about the deal in the first place.”
McCarthy agreed to soften his stance on a rules package that would regulate the 118th Congress as part of the compromise.
Freedom Caucus members have been vocal about what they want included in the funding plan, but McCarthy insists he is “not quite sure what they want.”
“Yeah, I don’t understand how members, they have no complaint about the Department of Defense bill. But they don’t want to pass it,” he stated before the Republicans met on Thursday.
The Freedom Caucus released a list of bill requirements last month, which included the passage of the Secure the Border Act of 2023 in the House, restrictions on the militarization of the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the elimination of paid leave for women seeking abortions in the Department of Defense.
Members of the caucus made demands on Thursday, with Representative Chip Roy, Republican from Texas, saying, “we are trying to force Kevin and the leadership of the Republican conference to understand that now is the time to force Biden to come to the table.”
So far, Kevin McCarthy’s role as Speaker has been met with ambivalence as conservatives can see he’s been much better than the likes of Paul Ryan, but also not quite living up to his promises.
Addressing the spending issue was a top issue for Kevin McCarthy before he was installed as the Speaker of the House. Now the conservatives in the Freedom Caucus just want to hold his feet to the fire, but it’s apparent he doesn’t like that.
The DC Daily Journal will keep you updated on any news about the federal government spending bills that are making their way though Congress.
