On Friday afternoon, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., made clear progress toward his longstanding goal of capturing the House speaker's gavel.
After 13 rounds of voting, he has failed to lock down the speakership, falling short of the 218 votes needed to secure it.
He has gotten 15 Republicans flipping to support him in Friday's balloting. Yet there are a handful of holdouts, and he needs to win over at least some of them to become speaker.
As reported by The Washington Post, McCarthy said he was still hopeful after the 13th round of voting. The House adjourned but is set to take up the issue again at 10 p.m. ET.
These are the staunchest holdouts he has to sway. The Post said that three of them represent the hardest "nos": Andy Biggs of Arizona, Matt Gaetz of Florida, and Bob Good of Virginia.
"If McCarthy flips any of these," the Post said, "he will in all likelihood become speaker."
But that may be no simple task, as they've staked out positions against throwing in with McCarthy under any circumstance or despite any concession. Gaetz has even said he'd sooner resign than vote for any deal worked out between Democrats and the GOP to lock down the speakership.
As for the other holdouts:
Matthew Rosendale of Montana
The Post said his office indicated he might be swayed, but only under "extreme circumstances." He even teased a vote by saying he'd back a Kevin, only to indicate he meant Kevin Hern of Oklahoma over the House Republican leader.
As noted by several outlets, Rosendale wants rules changes empowering rank-and-file lawmakers. The good news is that McCarthy has already yielded ground on many such items within the framework of the deal that has swayed more party members to his cause:
- No promise of chairs or gavels to anyone.
- Bills will go back through regular order.
- Appointing a select committee by the speaker but housed under the judiciary to investigate the FBI and Department of Justice.
- Bringing a congressional term-limits bill to the floor for a vote.
- Ending the COVID-19 public health emergency.
- Introduction of a fair-tax bill.
- Introduction of a border bill.
Eli Crane of Arizona
The incoming freshman, who defeated a longtime Democrat congressman to win his seat in November, is ID'd by The Washington Post as "perhaps the holdout we know the least about."
The Post said he joined fellow lawmakers as signatories to a letter last month that urged an array of rules changes in the House. But it's also noted that while those other lawmakers have since backed McCarthy, Crane has not. He has cast previous votes for that other Kevin ... Hern of Oklahoma.
In a CNN interview, he reaffirmed he would not vote for McCarthy, Reuters reported early Friday evening.
Lauren Boebert of Colorado
Boebert, who narrowly won reelection in the midterms, is among the holdouts' leaders. She even urged former President Donald Trump to press McCarthy to exit the race for the speakership.
The Denver Post said she has blamed weak up-ticket GOP candidates for her narrow win. But some observers think her staunch resistance to McCarthy may backfire on her in the next election cycle, as she could appear too distracted from her constituents' needs as she haggles over the gavel issue.
"Maybe she wants to win by two votes instead of 546 votes next time," former Aspen City Councilman Adam Frisch, who lost his congressional bid to Boebert, told The Denver Post.
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