Freedom Caucus pumps brakes on talk of ousting Speaker McCarthy over debt bill

Sep 22, 2023

A spark of initial interest in forcing a vote to remove Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his position as Speaker over the debt limit deal he negotiated with President Biden has not caught on in the House Freedom Caucus, the hard-line conservative group known for exerting pressure on GOP leadership.

Multiple members leaving a Freedom Caucus meeting Monday — the first gathering of the group in Washington, D.C., since the debt limit bill passed — said there was no discussion of whether any member should make a motion to vacate the chair, which would force a vote to remove McCarthy.

Instead, the group heard from House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) about an upcoming tax bill, which Smith told reporters will come "relatively soon."

The lack of discussion amounts to pumping the brakes on the idea of motion to vacate as a whole after outrage over the debt limit compromise not having deep enough cuts.

Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) last week became the first member to come out in favor of a motion to oust McCarthy from the Speakership over the debt bill. And Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) also said that the House Freedom Caucus should have a discussion about whether the motion to vacate should be on the table, telling CNN that he expected discussions to start this week.

Buck left the Monday evening meeting on the earlier side, while Bishop did not attend.

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry (R-Pa.) said that while Buck is telling the press that there should be discussion, he had not said that to members.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said that he did not express any formal discussions about a motion to vacate — yet. Other members expressed that there was not any broad consensus about a motion to vacate.

"It certainly doesn't seem like a majority at two. We respect their opinions," Perry said of Bishop and Buck before the meeting. "We consider every viewpoint and we try and do our diligence and consideration of every facet of what a member might be thinking."

A lack of strategizing to remove McCarthy does not mean the hard-line members have forgiven McCarthy for the debt bill, though.

"I’m still focused right now on this new coalition he seems to have formed and how long it will last," Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) said heading into the meeting, referring to the Democrats who voted with Republicans to pass the bill and the procedural rule vote.

But as for a motion to vacate, Biggs said: "I’m not making one."

Those who withheld support for McCarthy for Speaker in January — mostly Freedom Caucus members — got McCarthy to agree to rules change concessions that included restoring the threshold to make a motion to vacate the chair from five members to just one. Former Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) last made the motion against former House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in 2015, widely thought to be a contributing factor in his resignation from Congress later that year.

Conventional political observers have thought the threat of a potential removal hanging over McCarthy's head has helped incentivize him to appease the Freedom Caucus. But members of the group had insisted that no one was talking about making that motion — until last week, after revelation of the debt bill deal.

Members are not totally shutting down the motion to vacate option for McCarthy, though.

"It's a fair question because January was a reflection of two primary concerns among Republicans," Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) said heading into the meeting. "Number one, in the past, we had passed major spending bills when we had the majorities with primarily Democrat votes. And we did that last week. And number two, Republicans are frustrated that we have not utilized every tool at our disposal to stop the radical left agenda. And we certainly did not do that last week."

Updated 5:31 a.m. June 6

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