Scott Perry says ‘no agreement’ with McCarthy and accuses GOP leader of ‘betraying trust’
Samantha-Jo Roth
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Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) appeared on Fox News and said there has been “no agreement” between Republican holdouts and Rep. Kevin McCarthy, accusing the California Republican’s team of “betraying trust” as the House failed to choose a House speaker on a seventh ballot Thursday.
Perry, chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, came out from the chamber, did the network news hit, and then went back inside and proceeded to vote for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) for speaker. According to those familiar with negotiations, McCarthy offered up a variety of concessions that would ultimately weaken the position of speaker in an effort to end a blockade of his candidacy by 20 GOP lawmakers on Wednesday evening.
“There is no agreement whatsoever, and it’s disappointing that confidences are betrayed about the details of internal meetings. It exemplifies Washington, D.C., and the trust factor that is causing the impasse right before your eyes. There is a trust issue with the gentleman who wants to be speaker,” Perry said during a hit on Fox News Thursday afternoon.
“It is hard to restore trust in just a month or two, and it’s really hard when you’ve betrayed confidences in a meeting where the details are then leaked out to the press. So, there’s no agreement at this time,” Perry said.
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It appeared as if Republicans were making progress at the end of Wednesday after McCarthy offered to lower the number of members required to force a vote to oust a speaker from five to one. There was also an understanding that McCarthy would be willing to place more members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus on the Rules Committee, along with other demands from the holdouts.
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McCarthy, speaking to PBS NewsHour, responded and said he “hadn’t leaked anything about anything.” The GOP leader said he would continue negotiations.
Perry would not elaborate on where negotiations stand and what exactly he is asking for in exchange for offering support for McCarthy’s bid. Following the House’s vote on the seventh ballot, Perry walked down to presumptive Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s (R-MN) office.
“This is not about the timeline. It’s about democracy,” Perry said as he entered Emmer’s office.