A late-night report popped up on Tuesday regarding a move that former House Speaker McCarthy (R-CA) was making to regain the gavel.
Last Tuesday night, it was reported that since the caucus was split, at least at that point, McCarthy was proposing that he take back the gavel, with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) serving as Assistant Speaker.
The move made by McCarthy shocked some, but not this writer.
It was apparent that McCarthy was trying to find a way to regain power, and this last-second power move was a desperate attempt to do just that.
With the House at an impasse and appearing to be headed to another stalemate, McCarthy reportedly floated the idea of a plan that would satisfy both sides. This “proposal” was for McCarthy to become Speaker, with Jordan serving as the Assistant Speaker.
The idea was not well received, and Rep. Johnson (R-LA) was elected soon after that.
McCarthy was reportedly losing his mind behind the scenes, screaming at members of the caucus because his recommendations for Speaker were not being followed.
McCarthy clearly wanted to handpick his successor so he could run the show from behind the scenes, but it was not working.
I will get into this more in the next section, but this is far from the behavior you would expect from someone touted as leader of the caucus.
McCarthy has never been on my favorites list, and he is less likely to make it now than ever before.
His behavior throughout this process, in my humble opinion, was despicable.
McCarthy did everything in his power, which at times meant doing nothing, to stop this madness because he was always hoping he would somehow be able to get that gavel back.
The fact he sat on his hands when Rep. Scalise (R-LA) was fighting for support is unforgivable. He sat back with a big smile when it became clear that Jordan was not going to get to 217, and when it came to Emmer, well, everyone knows that Emmer is McCarthy’s lapdog, and it would have been McCarthy playing Oz behind the curtain, which is why Emmer was blocked.
At this point, I am just glad we have a Speaker and can move forward, but I firmly believe that McCarthy needs to be dislodged from leadership if this party is going to move forward aggressively.
Actually, to that very point, we need new leadership across the board after the 2024 election, with McCarthy, Senator McConnell (R-KY), and Ronna McDaniels all being removed from party leadership.
