During a Sunday night conference, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (D-CA) offered up a key concession that may persuade Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Co. to move forward with nominating McCarthy as the next Speaker Of The House.
The critical concession, known as a “motion to vacate” the speaker’s chair, would allow as few as five House members to trigger a vote ousting the speaker at any given time. McCarthy is attempting to ease concerns amongst GOP House members who don’t believe that he’ll follow through with promises made while advocating for the position.
Last week, CNN reported that McCarthy was supportive of the idea. McCarthy needs 218 votes to become Speaker, but as of now, 5 are deadset against voting for the California Representative. Republicans only hold 222 seats in the House, which means he must get at least 1 out of the 5 “never-McCarthy’s” to vote in his favor, otherwise, the Speaker ballot will go to a second vote which has not been done in 100 years, according to Newsmax.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, however, suggested lowering the number of House members required to trigger the vote to one. McCarthy objected to the suggestion.
“The motion to vacate isn’t an end unto itself. It is an enforcement tool to keep any speaker compliant to their promises,” Gaetz said before the conference call, according to The Wall Street Journal. “Kevin has no intention to keep the promises he’s made.”
News of McCarthy agreeing to the concessions comes as House Republicans plan to release their final rules package, formalizing the suggestions. But according to key sources, such concessions mean nothing until the package is passed. And the package will not pass until the House elects a speaker and swears in members.
As of now, McCarthy does not have the votes to win the speakership outright. If the first round of voting does not produce 218 ballots for a single candidate, House members will vote in a second round until one candidate reaches the threshold to win. That scenario would make McCarthy the first speaker candidate in 100 years to undergo multiple voting rounds.
The House will hold an election for the next Speaker on January 3rd.
