Eight Republicans, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), and every House Democrat voted this week to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as House Speaker, a first in American history.
The Hill’s Julia Manchester reports that McCarthy’s removal is causing a headache for Republicans heading into next year.
Republicans had celebrated flipping the lower chamber last November, but that thin majority created early turmoil for the GOP after a group of House Republicans sought concessions from McCarthy before ultimately electing him as Speaker in the 15th round of votes.
With McCarthy out, this week’s turmoil is raising questions whether the drama will distract and even threaten House Republicans in competitive districts.
Quotable and notable: “I think right now we look like the gang who can’t shoot straight,” Republican strategist Jason Cabel Roe told Julia.
“When we’re making an argument that the House of Representatives is the first line of defense in defeating the Biden administration and we can’t even manage our own Republican conference, it’s kind of difficult to make the case that we’re best prepared to stop the Biden agenda.”
McCarthy played a pivot role in Republican fundraising – dollars that will be crucial to defending GOP seats in New York and California, among several unlikely battleground states that helped deliver their narrow majority last fall.
What to watch for: Republicans told Julia that though the long-term consequences of McCarthy’s ousting are unclear, members of the party concede that dips in poll or short-term drops in fundraising could be a potential consequence of the House drama.
“The way we see things is we have to ignore the drama that’s going on in the Capitol, and we have to stay on offense because we still have the advantage,” one House Republican strategist told Julia. “There may be a small, temporary short slip in polling. That would not surprise me.”
“Long-term, people still go back to what’s affecting their daily lives and who do they trust to fix it,” the strategist said.
