Kevin McCarthy Tried To Compromise To Become Speaker And Was Totally Humiliated

Kevin McCarthy tried to give the Republican opposition to his bid to be speaker everything that they wanted, and they still rejected him.

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It is rare in American politics that a leader’s career unravels in slow motion in front of the entire world, but that appears to be exactly what is happening to Rep. Kevin McCarthy.

The far right of his House caucus has been opposed to him becoming the next Speaker of the House from the beginning. They got their opening to effectively end McCarthy’s political career when the red wave never arrived in the 2022 midterm election, and Republicans won the House with a slim four-seat majority.

As we reach the final hours before the new Congress is gaveled into session at noon eastern time on Tuesday, McCarthy made more concessions in his bid for power.

McCarthy offered to lower the threshold for a motion to vacate to be brought to the floor to five members. A motion to vacate is a vote to boot the Speaker of the House out of power.

CNN reported that this still wasn’t enough for those who opposed to McCarthy:

Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, one of the five “hard no” votes, said on the call he would not be backing McCarthy, despite all the demands that he has given in to. And not long after, the separate group of nine hardliners put out a letter calling some of McCarthy’s concessions insufficient, though they did say progress is being made.

That group is still pushing for a single member to be able to call for a vote toppling the speaker, which is what it used to be before Speaker Nancy Pelosi changed the rules, and they also want a commitment that leadership won’t play in primaries.

“Thus far, there continue to be missing specific commitments with respect to virtually every component of our entreaties, and thus, no means to measure whether promises are kept or broken,” the letter, obtained by CNN, states.

McCarthy’s allies are warning that he is giving up too much to try to get the support of the far right which will result in him not being able to govern the House.

For our purposes, the humiliation of Kevin McCarthy deserves a closer look for what it will mean for the American people in 2023.