House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) is facing more criticism as Republicans build a case against him, opposing him as speaker of the House.
Seven more members of the House Freedom Caucus pledged to oppose McCarthy, keeping him far away from being the next Speaker unless they win concessions on congressional rules.
“The American people send us to Washington to do what we said we would do – namely, to limit spending and fight to advance a conservative agenda," Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said, adding "we must organize ourselves to ensure there is a 'check' on the swamp and reform the status quo.”
The letter listed several demands they want McCarthy to get “serious” about or risk losing their support.
One of the demands is rules change to make it easier to remove the House speaker by allowing any lawmaker to offer a "motion to vacate the chair" at any point in time.
“While difficult in practice, it is an important mechanism to restore trust and provide accountability,” the lawmakers wrote. “We’re not going to be held hostage,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb) said.
The GOP members argue that all legislation must focus on a single topic, be publicly available for 72 hours before a vote so that it can be read, and receive a full debate with the ability to offer and vote on amendments.
Additionally, the Republican lawmakers want McCarthy to create a new oversight panel that would investigate whether the federal government's powers have become weaponized for political gain by President Joe Biden and fellow Democrats.
“We believe these should form the basis of any conversation about our leadership and without regard to any one request, the totality of the requests must be addressed if we are to truly unite as a conference,” the lawmakers continued.