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Rep. Dan Bishop said he has absolutely ‘zero’ confidence in Kevin McCarthy as he became the first Republican to publicly float the idea of ousting the speaker due to the debt limit deal.
‘What basis is there for confidence?’ Bishop asked reporters after he was the only one in a House Freedom Caucus press conference to raise his hand and say he would put the motion to vacate the speaker ‘on the table.’
McCarthy’s top negotiators finally struck a deal with the White House over the weekend that suspends the debt ceiling until Jan. 1, 2025.
As part of a previous deal to become speaker, McCarthy agreed to a rules change that allowed for a single member motion to vacate – one member of either party can call a motion to vacate and the speaker can lose the gavel if a simple majority votes for the motion.
Republican defectors estimate the deal would add $4 trillion to the national debt.
Other members of the right wing Freedom Caucus have been less blunt in their suggestions that McCarthy could lose his speakership over what Bishop described as a ‘s*** sandwich’ of a deal.
Asked who supports a motion to vacate to oust Speaker McCarthy if the debt limit deal passes, Rep. Dan Bishop raised his hand
‘McCarthy has lost some trust,’ Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told reporters, but said ‘I’m not going there,’ when asked about the motion to vacate.
McCarthy told reporters he’s not worried about a motion to vacate. ‘Tell me again. What did the Democrats put in it?’ he said, insisting the bill was a Republican win.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said there would be a ‘reckoning’ if the bill is passed.
‘There will be a reckoning about what just occurred unless we stop this bill,’ he told reporters.
In a Glenn Beck interview Tuesday morning Roy said if he could not stop the bill in Rules ‘then we’re going to have to then regroup and figure out the whole leadership arrangement again.’
Rep. Scott Perry, who leads the Freedom Caucus said ‘I’ll let each member speak for themselves’ when asked about the motion to vacate but added ‘this deal fails, fails completely.’
‘We will do everything in our power to stop it,’ he added.
Rep. Byron Donalds did not rule out a potential McCarthy ouster: ‘Look, I think that’s something that’s gonna be tackled after this.’
The House Rules Committee will debate and vote on the bill this afternoon at 3 p.m. Two of the nine Republicans on the 13-member panel have already announced they will not vote to advance the bill to the House floor. It’s not yet clear if Democrats on the panel will vote to move the bill forward.
Freedom Caucus members sound off about the debt ceiling deal struck between McCarthy and Biden
Rep. Dan Bishop called the deal a ‘s*** sandwich’
Rep. Patrick McHenry, a lead negotiator and former deputy whip, predicted the deal would pass with the support of about half of the Republican conference.
‘The Republican conference right now has been torn asunder,’ Roy said.
That would mean around 110 Democrats would have to vote for the bill in order for it to pass. The center-left New Democrat Coalition, which has around 100 members, came out in support of the bill on Monday.
House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries declined to say how many Democratic votes he could produce – saying he still expected Republicans to deliver the 150 GOP votes they had promised him.
He also declined to say whether Democrats would step in to save McCarthy if the right wing rebels in his caucus stage a coup.
McCarthy won rare praise from Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., who opposed his speakership.
‘I think McCarthy did the best he could do to some extent,’ she said.
Boebert shifted blame from McCarthy to Democrats. ‘McCarthy did his job. But unfortunately, Biden and the Democrat, controlled Senate did not do theirs. The House did our job.’
Republicans who oppose the bill waived off the threat of default after Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen said the nation could run out of money to pay its bills on June 5.
‘I don’t buy Janet Yellen’s ‘the sky’s falling.’ She’s moved the date three times,’ Norman told reporters. ‘What gives? Tax revenues are going to be coming in. We’re not going to default.’
‘Let’s call their bluff on it. The best deal is no deal. The time you get up and walk away from the table was when Biden spent 97 days dithering in Japan and God knows where else he went.’
The debt limit deal includes $136 billion in budget cuts and suspends the debt ceiling until Jan. 1, 2025 – after the 2024 election.
Some of the opposed Republicans, who passed a bill last month – the Limit, Save, Grow Act – that would only raise the ceiling by $1.5 trillion, say the debt limit suspension goes beyond that is necessary and gives the Biden administration the ability to overspend for the next two years.
The deal also leaves non-defense discretionary spending flat in 2024 and allows for a one percent increase in 2025 – essentially amounting to cuts since inflation is not factored in.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
