Former Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) analyzed Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) failed bid to be elected House speaker today. It was in shambles as the California Republican’s old ghosts returned to haunt him. McCarthy has fumbled easy votes before, and today was no exception. We had three ballots which drove both sides to exhaustion. McCarthy didn’t have enough Republican votes, with 20 rebels refusing to back his bid. And Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who was elected to succeed Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as the leader for House Democrats, doesn’t have the numbers either; Republicans have a meager majority this session.
Three stalemates led to a motion to adjourn until noon tomorrow being adopted, but while Jeffries' support remained ironclad, McCarthy’s grip on his support base was starting to falter. Who knows if the dam would break, but it was time to quit and regroup, though whether a recess would benefit McCarthy is unknown.
Why is Mick Mulvaney even here?
— Leigh Ann Caldwell (@LACaldwellDC) January 3, 2023
Some people were wondering why Mulvaney was even on the Hill: he’s not a member of Congress, having served as Trump’s White House chief of staff, director of the Office of Management and Budget, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and finally a special envoy to Northern Ireland. Regardless, he was interviewed by CNN’s Jake Tapper and got to the core of the opposition to McCarthy from the 20 or so House Republicans. It’s personal; these rebels don’t like the man. Moreover, they have no plan.
When he asked them who they would prefer, they told Mulvaney that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) was a suitable alternative, but the Ohio Republican a) didn’t want the job, and b) there was no realistic scenario in which he would get the votes. The vast majority of the House Freedom Caucus backed McCarthy on every ballot, so it’s not an actual conservative rebellion. The ex-White House chief of staff added that the 20 anti-McCarthyites are enjoying the media hits and chaos, but this is a sloppy way to run a speakership election.
EXCLUSIVE: Former President Trump declined to say if he's sticking by his endorsement of Kevin McCarthy for speaker tonight, telling me in a brief phone interview he's had calls all day asking for support, and "We'll see what happens. We'll see how it all works out."
— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) January 3, 2023
"I don't see how this is anything but personal," former OMB Director and Freedom Caucus founder @MickMulvaney tells me of the first Speaker vote.
— Michael Ginsberg (@mikeginsberg98) January 3, 2023
A frustrated @MickMulvaney, on Bloomberg Radio with @JMathieuReports, says the GOP holdouts on McCarthy aren't offering viable alternative candidates.
— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) January 3, 2023
"There is no name. I think they're playing checkers. They really don't like Kevin McCarthy and that's about it," he said.
This is very interesting. DON BACON tells us if McCarthy ends up bowing out, he may run a candidate against SCALISE if he runs. He said the candidate he has in mind is currently serving in congress, but won’t be in the next congress.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 2, 2023
He declined to say whether it was fred upton
It's an ironic twist since Mulvaney didn’t support John Boehner’s speakership bid, though he admits he had no personal animus towards the former speaker. This vote is different. If not McCarthy, then whom? That’s what he pitched to these members who remain firm in their opposition. Mulvaney added that a possible alternative is a bipartisan/coalition pick, where a more centrist Republican, who could appeal to enough Democrats, is selected and secures the votes for the speakership. That option would be less palatable to the conservative base than if McCarthy had given the gavel outright.
The South Carolina Republican also argued that his opposition to Boehner was over a marginalization of conservative voices within the GOP caucus. McCarthy is slated to have Rep. Jordan chair the House Judiciary Committee if he gets elected speaker, something Mulvaney admits would never be considered under Speaker Boehner.
Fourth ballot voting begins tomorrow. I’d expect someone is talking to somebody throughout the night because in the words of Leo McGarry, “one night of this is entertaining, two nights we look like idiots.”
Then again, I believe that all is fair in chaos. Regarding those people who have a realistic shot at getting the gavel—McCarthy—I’m lukewarm, so if he gets it, he gets it. If not, then, oh, well.