At least two members of the Freedom Caucus have floated the idea of ousting Speaker McCarthy over the debt ceiling deal.
It may be more of a veiled threat than anything else, but both Reps. Dan Bishop and Chip Roy are not happy about it at all.
Via Breitbart:
Some but not all members of the House Freedom Caucus have vented about how the bill does not do enough to tackle America’s deficit problem.
Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX), a member of the Freedom Caucus, urged his fellow Freedom Caucus members to “cut it out.”
Two Freedom Caucus members, Reps. Dan Bishop (R-NC) and Chip Roy (R-TX), have vocally opposed the debt ceiling deal as have others.
Bishop floated using the motion to vacate, a parliamentary procedure to remove the speaker, over the debt ceiling.
Roy said on Tuesday that conservatives would have to “figure out the whole leadership arrangement again” in a veiled threat against McCarthy.
However, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the Judiciary Committee chairman and a Freedom Caucus member, said that ousting McCarthy over the debt ceiling deal was a “terrible idea.”
After the House Republican Conference meeting, some conservatives appeared to back down from their threats.
Bishop did not discuss McCarthy’s future with reporters after the meeting, Roy did not respond to reporters’ questions about removing McCarthy, and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) suggested that McCarthy was not actually at risk.
I suspect that Normal is right, that McCarthy isn’t in any danger of losing his speakership over the debt ceiling.
I wish conservatives like Chip Roy and Dan Bishop wouldn’t just throw a threat out there like this. I know the debt ceiling arrangement is pretty terrible, but McCarthy was on the winning side of this deal and, as Thomas Massie points out, it does cut some spending:
I respect opposition to the Fiscal Responsibility Act, but I am voting yes.
I’ve been in Congress for a decade and this is the first real bill that cuts spending.
It also includes an automatic 1% cut to spending on January 1 if Congress doesn’t pass the 12 appropriations bills.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) May 31, 2023
There’s supposed to be a vote on the bill later today and McCarthy believes they have the votes to pass it. We shall see.