Topline
A coalition of House conservatives are ramping up calls for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to form a new committee to take up the various probes the GOP plans to launch into the Biden Administration next year, Politico reported Friday—the latest possible bargaining chip as McCarthy struggles to earn enough Republican votes to become House speaker.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty … [+]
Key Facts
A group of seven House members—including Reps. Scott Perry (Penn.), Dan Bishop (N.C.) and Paul Gosar (Ariz.)—previously urged McCarthy to form a committee modeled after the 1970s Church Committee, a post-Watergate congressional panel that found U.S. intelligence agencies undermined citizens’ constitutional rights by engaging in ethically questionable surveillance and spying activities.
The committee would presumably probe President Joe Biden’s Covid-19 and border security policies, along with reviews of the FBI and Department of Justice’s handling of investigations into former President Donald Trump and the January 6 Capitol riots.
McCarthy’s office did not respond to questions from Politico or Forbes about whether he would meet the request, but he expressed openness to forming the committee in a call with House Republicans on Friday, CNN reported.
Meanwhile, McCarthy made a significant concession to conservatives this week, and one that would curtail his power, CNN reported: He has tentatively agreed to allow just five lawmakers to initiate the process to remove the House speaker, a mechanism called a motion to vacate that currently requires a majority of the caucus
Crucial Quote
“You don’t get many bites at the apple. You’ve got to get it done right,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tx.) told Politico, referring to Republicans’ investigatory plans and conservatives’ bid to form a panel.
Key Background
McCarthy’s long-sought speaker aspirations were thrown into jeopardy when Republicans won fewer seats in the House than expected during the midterm election, giving them a slim four-seat majority, 222-213, in the lower chamber starting next month. McCarthy won the nomination for speaker, defeating Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), in November, but he needs 218 votes to secure the position during the leadership elections on January 3. Biggs recently announced plans to challenge McCarthy again in the upcoming election, which will go to additional rounds of voting until one candidate nets the 218 needed to win. Biggs is one of five House Freedom Caucus members who said they will vote as a bloc in the leadership elections, all of whom have either expressed plans to vote against McCarthy or cast doubt on his leadership ability. The seven members who are pushing for the Church-style committee also made a number of other requests to incoming House leadership in a letter sent earlier this month, including banning Republican leadership PACs like the Congressional Leadership Fund from being involved in primary races and increasing the number of conservatives represented on committees, namely the House Rules Committee.
Contra
A group of 15 moderate House Republicans representing districts that Biden won in 2020 pledged their support for McCarthy’s speakership bid in a letter to Republicans on Thursday. “Let us be clear: we are not only supporting Kevin McCarthy for Speaker, but are not open to any so-called shadow ‘consensus candidate’—regardless of how many votes it takes to elect Speaker-designate McCarthy,” the signers, including Rep.-elect Mike Lawler (N.Y.) and Rep. Don Bacon (Neb.), wrote in the letter obtained by Politico.
Further Reading
Rep. Andy Biggs Challenges McCarthy For Speaker—But Neither May Have The Votes To Win (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2022/12/30/house-conservatives-reportedly-urge-mccarthy-to-form-biden-focused-investigative-panel-another-demand-as-mccarthy-vies-for-speaker/