Here’s What He Gave Up To Win House Speakership

McCarthy, who won the speakership after 15 rounds of voting, agreed to vote separately on the 12 different appropriation bills—from agriculture to defense spending to transportation—rather than allow them to be bundled together into an end-of-year omnibus spending bill.

The 12 separate votes were a key ask of far-right dissenters, after conservative House GOP members blasted the $1.65 trillion omnibus bill that passed the House last month, with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) telling Fox News the House rules should never allow a “horrendous omnibus bill to ever pass ever again.”

McCarthy also agreed to cap discretionary spending at the levels they were at the beginning of the Biden Administration for both defense and domestic spending, as part of a commitment to balance the federal budget within 10 years.

Several House Republicans, however, criticized the measure, which could reduce national defense spending by $75 billion, with Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), reportedly arguing it could back the government “into sequestration.”

In response to a letter from GOP members, McCarthy also agreed to create a subcommittee on the “Weaponization of the Federal Government,” which would be tasked with probing the federal government’s information collection on private individuals as well as its ongoing criminal investigations, potentially including the Department of Justice’s probe into classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate.

McCarthy also agreed to reinstitute the Holman rule, a law that allows for the reduction in government officials’ salaries and any other compensation paid by the U.S. Treasury.

In one of his biggest concessions, McCarthy agreed to lower the number GOP conference members needed to start a process of removing the speaker, known as a “motion to vacate,” from five to one—even though he previously said he wouldn’t budge on the number, and some Republicans worry it could bog down the House with weekly power struggles.

McCarthy also agreed to keep the Congressional Leadership Fund—a McCarthy affiliated super PAC—out of open House primary races for seats considered safe, and to appoint far-right House Freedom Caucus members to seats on the House Rules Committee.

Also: He promised to give House members 72 hours to review bills before they come to the floor, to require a vote to raise the federal debt limit and to hold votes on congressional term limits and a border security plan, multiple outlets reported.