On December 31st, Rep. Kevin McCarthy got some interesting news from the Republican Main Street Caucus, a group that aims to “develop common sense, pragmatic legislation and promote kitchen-table policies in Congress.”
That Caucus wrote McCarthy a letter in which they pledged to vote solely for him
Yesterday Republican Main Street Caucus (RMSC) members met to discuss priorities for the upcoming votes on the House rules package and the election of a Speaker of the House. During that meeting, a strong consensus developed in three areas.
1. Members of the Main Street Caucus will hold the line. Kevin McCarthy is best prepared to lead the 118th Congress, and we are prepared to vote for him for as long as it takes.
2. Two proposed rules changes are problematic. Many in the Caucus expressed strong reservations regarding lowering the threshold on the motion to vacate and on changing Steering Committee criteria to facilitate what some have called “all views on all committees.” Any RMSC concessions in those areas would have to be met with real, tangible, and proven concessions by those blocking Kevin McCarthy’s election as Speaker.
3. We won’t reward chaos. Any RMSC support for rule changes will be taken off the table if Kevin McCarthy is not expediently elected as Speaker of the House on January 3.
As a group of more than 70 members committed to finding practical conservative solutions, we believe these priorities will ensure the Republican conference hits the ground running on day one of the new Congress.
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Americans elected a Republican Majority to provide a check and balance on the administration and to find solutions to the problems our nation is facing, we can’t do that if we don’t elect a Speaker on January 3.
The Main Street Caucus, describing itself in the “about” section of its homepage, says:
“The Main Street Caucus is a group of Republican Members of Congress who are dedicated to strong, conservative principles related to economic, business, environmental, and national security policy, and believe in governing in a thoughtful and pragmatic manner. We are committed to implementing pro-growth policies for small business owners, fostering economic and individual prosperity, and delivering real results for the American people. The Main Street Caucus will be a space for conservative Members to come together to find practical solutions to the many challenges our nation faces.”
What makes that more moderate group’s support of McCarthy interesting is that it puts them in line with former President Donald Trump, who said, during a Breitbart interview, that he likes McCarthy and that:
“I think it’s a very dangerous game that’s being played It’s a very dangerous game. Some bad things could happen. Look, we had Boehner, and he was a strange person, but we ended up with Paul Ryan, who was ten times worse. Paul Ryan was an incompetent speaker. I think he goes down as the worst speaker in history. We took [out] Boehner—and a group of people, some of whom are the same, and they’re very good friends of mine. All those people are very good friends of mine.”
So, with Trump backing McCarthy and the more moderate Republicans backing McCarthy, only a a few Republicans- Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Matt Rosendale (R-MT), Bob Good (R-VA), and Ralph Norman (R-SC)- are still fighting to keep McCarthy out of leadership.