Members of the House Republican Conference gathered in the congressional auditorium on Monday to hear from leadership hopefuls, an event that was largely even-keeled amid the chaos surrounding leadership elections on the eve of the vote.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is trying to lock down the support needed to secure the speaker’s gavel in the wake of an underwhelming election night. The candidate forum comes as a sizable number of lawmakers and incoming members have called for a delay in the vote, which is conducted in a closed-ballot format, until after Republicans clinch a majority in the lower chamber.
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The razor-thin majority the GOP is expected to have gives the conservative House Freedom Caucus leverage over McCarthy and has sparked a likely challenge by former caucus Chairman Andy Biggs (R-AZ) to demonstrate that McCarthy does not have the 218 votes needed to claim the speaker’s gavel.
Among the Republicans who laid out their cases were National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Emmer (R-MN), Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Banks (R-IN), and Chief Deputy Whip Drew Ferguson (R-GA), who have been engaged in a heated race for House majority whip; Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), running to be the next NRCC chairman; current House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY), looking to retain her position as she faces challenger Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL); and Reps. Lisa McClain (R-MI), Andrew Clyde (R-GA), and Glenn Grothmann (R-WI), who are vying to be conference secretary.
Prior to the forum, McCarthy told reporters that he was “feeling great.”
“I feel like we just won the majority,” he said. When asked if he believes he has the 218 votes locked down, McCarthy retorted that he won’t be speaker if he doesn’t.
Acknowledging the prospect of a challenge from Biggs, McCarthy welcomed the competition.
“I think it is great. Competition makes people better. I think debate is a good thing,” he added.
During the candidate forum, the conference, including incoming GOP lawmakers, heard “from the most senior position to least senior,” according to a senior GOP aide.
McCarthy laid out his plans to scrap the Jan. 6 committee and redirect those funds to oversight activities, one source told the Washington Examiner, as the GOP gears up to investigate the Biden administration in the new Congress.
Republicans peppered him with questions about rules and his willingness to open up the legislative process to empower rank-and-file members to have more say in the crafting of bills, another source told the Washington Examiner. Republicans in attendance did not seem inclined to grill him too aggressively, per the source.
Scalise, who was greeted with a warm reception and applause from attendees, pledged that under his leadership, the House would hold hearings about the Hunter Biden laptop saga.
In the heated race for the majority whip spot, Emmer defended his stewardship of the NRCC, insisting to those in attendance that he never pledged anything but a congressional majority. Meanwhile, Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) dropped out of the race for NRCC chairman, leaving Hudson unopposed.
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Other members who attended the meeting were largely mum about how they would cast their vote in the leadership election. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) stressed that she was “focused on completing my race.” Boebert has pulled ahead in her unexpectedly tight contest with Democrat Adam Frisch, but many outlets have not yet called the race.
