BELOW SUPERNAV drop zone ⇩

What concessions did Kevin McCarthy make to become speaker?

Dean of the House Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., swears in Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as House Speaker on the House floor at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, early Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

(NewsNation) — Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., had to make a series of concessions to the far right flank of his party in order to win their votes to become speaker.

What concessions did he make? What price did he pay for their votes?

It boils down to this: Mccarthy gave up a lot of the power that typically comes with being the speaker and handed it back to his rank and file members.

Most notably, he agreed to a rule that allows just one member to force a vote to remove the speaker of the House at any time. It makes McCarthy vulnerable and puts a serious check on his own authority.

Another new rule says if Congress raises the debt limit, which will be necessary to avoid a government shutdown, it must be accompanied by a mandatory spending cut to entitlement programs, like Medicare or Medicaid.

In addition, some of these hardline Republicans demanded certain committee chairmanships in exchange for their votes.

It’s also being reported Mccarthy agreed to support capping government spending in 2024, at 2022 levels, which would mean a roughly $75 billion cut to military and defense spending.

Now, the house will have to vote to approve this rules package, and it’s not entirely clear whether it will pass. Plenty of republicans will have a hard time swallowing major cuts to defense/military spending, or the rule remove a speaker.

“How am I going to look at our allies in the eye and say, I need you to increase your defense budget,” said Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, “But yet America is going to decrease ours.”

Gonzales speaks for others as well.

There were other rules Mccarthy agreed to which were less controversial. Most republicans support posting a bill 72 hours before voting on it and allowing any member to propose amendments to any bill on the house floor.

Politics

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Site Settings Survey

 

MAIN AREA MIDDLE drop zone ⇩

Trending on NewsNation

MAIN AREA BOTTOM drop zone ⇩

tt

KC Chiefs parade shooting: 1 dead, 21 shot including 9 kids | Morning in America

Witness of Chiefs parade shooting describes suspect | Banfield

Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting: Mom of 2 dead, over 20 shot | Banfield

WWE star Ashley Massaro 'threatened' by board to keep quiet about alleged rape: Friend | Banfield

Friend of WWE star: Ashley Massaro 'spent hours' sobbing after alleged rape | Banfield

Sunny

la

66°F Sunny Feels like 66°
Wind
7 mph SW
Humidity
47%
Sunrise
Sunset

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Low near 50F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
50°F Partly cloudy. Low near 50F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Wind
6 mph NNW
Precip
10%
Sunset
Moon Phase
Waxing Gibbous