The needle has not moved at all, as Kevin McCarthy failed for the eighth time, and the second in the last three hours, in his bid to become House speaker. Just as in Round 7, McCarthy got 201 and remains 17 short, with 21 Republicans voting against him. The only mildly interesting development in Round 8 was that two members of the anti-McCarthy bloc, Lauren Boebert (R., Colo.) and Josh Brecheen (R., Okla.), cast their votes for a candidate who had not been nominated, Kevin Hern (R., Okla.), the head of the House’s Republican Study Committee. Hern had voted for McCarthy in every round and did so again in Round 8.
The scenario Phil just laid out is increasingly clear: McCarthy has to consider stepping down and letting another candidate take a shot unless there is some deal going on in the background — a possibility about which, while there is reporting, there are no apparent indications on the floor.
It seems pointless to go into Round 9, but that is now happening. Why? Well, Republican leadership was barely able to eke out a recess vote yesterday, so leadership may not want to try that again. It would be a major embarrassment if the new GOP majority could not even prevail on a recess vote.
Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that former president Donald Trump facilitated and participated in a phone call Tuesday night between McCarthy and one of the holdouts, Scott Perry (R., Pa.). If any progress came out of that discussion, it appears — as Phil’s post details — that Perry has since been angered by what he sees as leaking of the negotiations, and it seems to have hardened his resolve against McCarthy.
The Times elaborates that Trump’s support for McCarthy is real but tepid. He has publicly announced his support and urged McCarthy’s opponents (many of them ardent Trump supporters) to drop their protest and elect him speaker. At the same time, the former president appears to have been surprised that his allies did not hop to it when he pressed them on McCarthy’s behalf, so he has shied away from arm-twisting – lest he gets rebuffed and suffers an emperor-has-no-clothes moment.
As the report puts it:
[S]ome of Mr. McCarthy’s opponents have suggested to Mr. Trump that they would switch their vote if it were of crucial importance to the former president. But Mr. Trump ignored those offers and told reluctant lawmakers they should continue negotiating to work out their differences, according to one person familiar with the conversations.