McCarthy: ‘Not at all’ concerned about losing Speakership amid conservative backlash to debt limit deal

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Sunday said he is “not at all” concerned about losing his leadership position as conservative lawmakers voice concerns with the debt limit deal struck between him and President Biden.

“Not at all, not at all,” McCarthy told reporters in the Capitol when asked if he is worried he could face a vote on ousting him as Speaker.

He also brushed off a question about conservative backlash to the deal within his party.

“I’m not sure who you’re talking to because we did a conference call with our conference and over 95 percent were overwhelmingly excited about what they see,” McCarthy said. “They’re getting the text today.”

“Look, in every single negotiation when it comes to debt ceiling and others you get both sides of the party voting to pass the bills and I expect the same thing to happen,” he added.

Biden and McCarthy announced an agreement in principle Saturday night to raise the debt limit after days of negotiations between deputies appointed by both leaders. The deal raises the debt limit for two years, places spending caps on federal spending, freezes nondefense spending for 2024 and implements some changes to work requirements for social benefit programs, among other provisions.

Some conservative lawmakers, however, are already lashing out at the deal and vowing to vote against it once it hits the floor.

“This ‘deal’ is insanity,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, wrote on Twitter. “A $4T debt ceiling increase with virtually no cuts is not what we agreed to. Not gonna vote to bankrupt our country. The American people deserve better.”

“I listened to Speaker McCarthy earlier tonight outline the deal with President Biden and I am appalled by the debt ceiling surrender. The bottom line is that the U.S. will have $35 trillion of debt in January, 2025,” Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) tweeted. “That is completely unacceptable.”

The conservative unease with the agreement is raising the question of if McCarthy will soon face a vote to oust him as Speaker. During the drawn-out Speakership election in January, McCarthy agreed to lower the threshold to force a vote on ousting the Speaker — known as the motion to vacate the chair — from five members to just one.

During negotiations over the debt limit, however, some McCarthy holdouts from the Speaker’s race swatted down a potential motion to vacate.

“Literally nobody except the press is talking about removing McCarthy right now,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), for example, wrote on Twitter last week.

–Updated at 1:51 p.m.