Hard-Right Punishes McCarthy Over Debt Ceiling Deal

Topline

Members of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus members broke more than 20 years of precedent this week by blocking legislation backed by their own party, in a revolt against the debt ceiling deal House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) negotiated with President Joe Biden—grinding the House to a halt and signaling the start of a war that could hamstring legislative activity for the duration of the congressional session.

Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert (Colo.) and. Matt Gaetz (Fla.) are part of a coalition of right-wing … [+] lawmakers blocking legislation from advancing in the House as retaliation against Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) over the debt ceiling deal he negotiated with President Joe Biden. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

McCarthy postponed all votes in the House until next week on Wednesday after 12 conservatives, led by members of the House Freedom Caucus, voted against measures that would allow two bills aimed at blocking gas stove bans to move to the floor for a formal vote.

The rebels, including Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.) and Chip Roy (Texas), joined with Democrats to tank the legislation in a 206-222 vote against a rule that would advance the bills to the floor.

The move marked the first time since 2002 that a rule vote—a procedural precursor to a formal vote on legislation—failed in the House.

Gaetz said in a press conference the move was retaliation against McCarthy for failing to include all of their demands in the debt ceiling legislation Biden signed over the weekend, which more Democrats voted for than Republicans.

Gaetz said the group is “concerned that the fundamental commitments that allowed Kevin McCarthy to assume the speakership have been violated,” referring to the concessions conservatives demanded in exchange for their votes to elect him speaker, many of which were designed to curb the speaker’s power and reduce federal spending.

Gaetz also told reporters the opposing votes were in protest of what they viewed as retaliation by leadership against Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.)—who voted against the debt ceiling deal—after GOP leaders failed to schedule a bill he sponsored for a vote, a claim Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) denied, tweeting that it would be introduced next week.

Contra

McCarthy vowed to “listen” to the opposing lawmakers’ concerns and “solve this” in announcing votes were canceled for the week. “Some of these members, they don’t know what to ask for,” he said. “There’s numerous different things they’re frustrated about.”

Chief Critic

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) defended McCarthy and criticized the rebels for throwing a “temper tantrum,” he told MSNBC, adding “the vast majority of our conference is unified . . . we’re not going to be overrun by a handful of folks.”

Crucial Quote

Gaetz and Boebert declared they “hold the floor” in tweets following the votes. “House leadership couldn’t hold the line,” Gaetz wrote.

Big Number

4. That’s the number of votes Republicans can afford to lose in order to pass legislation without the support of any Democrats in the House, where the GOP holds a slim 213-222 majority.

Tangent

The bills aimed at limiting new regulations on gas stoves were symbolic in nature as they would likely fail the Democratic-controlled Senate and Biden has threatened to veto them. The Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act would prohibit the federal government from banning gas stoves and the Save Our Gas Stoves Act would limit energy conservation standards for kitchen ranges and ovens. Despite widespread concerns among Republicans that the Biden Administration is seeking to ban gas stoves, the Department of Energy is instead planning new gas stove regulations to target energy efficiency. Some industry experts, however, have expressed concerns that the new regulations would require so many changes to the way gas stoves are made that manufacturers would stop producing them.

Key Background

McCarthy and Biden agreed to legislation last month that lifts the federal borrowing limit for the next two years in a deal that came days before the federal government was expected to reach its debt ceiling. While acknowledging that the left and right flanks of both parties would likely be unhappy with the agreement, both McCarthy and Biden billed the deal as a victory. The deal did not go as far as some on the far right wanted to curb federal spending, which will remain stagnant in the following fiscal year under the agreement and increase just 1% in the subsequent year. McCarthy’s ability to force Biden to agree to any concessions at all—something Biden vowed for months not to do—was widely viewed as a major success in the political world. Some members of the far right threatened to bring a motion to oust McCarthy as speaker over the deal, though the movement has since faded. The House Freedom Caucus holds outsized power under the GOP’s slim majority in the House, leaving McCarthy with the delicate task of negotiating with the right-wing lawmakers in order to pass GOP legislation—a challenge he said he relishes, telling New York magazine, “This job is not an easy job. I don’t seek it because it’s easy.” McCarthy won the speakership after a historic 15 rounds of voting in January only after agreeing to a string of House Freedom Caucus demands in exchange for their votes, including making it easier for the House to remove the speaker.

What To Watch For

How the conservative coalition will flex their power in the coming months, particularly when Congress negotiates the fiscal year 2024 budget, which must be agreed upon before the current fiscal year expires on September 30. Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), a McCarthy ally, expressed concerns that the Republican majority could be even slimmer when Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) steps down due to his wife’s health concerns and if Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who was indicted in May on federal fraud charges, is ejected from Congress. “We’re about to very possibly lose two members in the very near future,” he told New York magazine.