Speaker battle heads to 12th ballot with no deal between McCarthy and holdouts
Virginia Aabram
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The fourth day of Republican infighting begins at noon Friday with the 12th ballot for speaker of the House, the first glimpse into if negotiations through the night and morning have made a dent in Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) vote total.
McCarthy and his allies have been trying to work out a deal with the 20 conservative hard-liners blocking him from reaching 218 votes, and both sides said that progress had been made last night. Negotiators stepped through the details of the agreement being floated to holdouts in a GOP conference call Friday morning. McCarthy has been forced to cross several lines he said he wouldn’t over the past few months as the prospect of the speaker battle extending into the weekend becomes more likely.
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Last night, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), a conservative who backs McCarthy and is helping bridge the two sides, told the Washington Examiner, “I’m optimistic. I’m always optimistic,” and that there’s been “progress, progress, progress.” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), whom the dissenters backed on Tuesday despite his own support for McCarthy, said the talks had been “productive.” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), another McCarthy alternative, agreed that talks had been fruitful.
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Though McCarthy may have gained ground with the faction of dissidents gunning for rules changes and other concessions, there are likely still more than four who will keep opposing him anyway on more personal grounds. The first sub-faction is led by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), while Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) have most publicly led the “Never Kevin” camp this week.
The 20 rebels remained united against McCarthy throughout Thursday’s votes but split among themselves between backing Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) and Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK) as the ballots progressed.