Kevin McCarthy's quest to become speaker is off to a lousy start


With dozens of races still uncalled, the future of the United States House of Representatives remains decidedly in flux. Nevertheless, since all indications point toward a Republican majority after Tuesday's midterm elections, GOP members of Congress have ramped up their jockeying for influence in the coming term. But with the predicted Republican "red wave" manifesting more as a slight ripple against an unexpectedly strong Democratic showing, it's House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) who suddenly finds a once straightforward path to becoming the Speaker of the House decidedly less clear.
"I would say 'not so fast,'" Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) cautioned on Wednesday when asked by conservative broadcaster Emerald Robinson about the inevitability of a McCarthy speakership.
"Kevin McCarthy has not done anything to earn my vote for speaker," Virginia Rep. Bob Good told Axios on Wednesday as well. While Freedom Caucus vice-chair and presumptive Judiciary Committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has backed McCarthy's speaker bid, fellow far-right congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) raised the possibility that Jordan would himself become speaker during a post-midterm podcast interview with his colleague.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In part, the stumbling blocks in McCarthy's path are a product of a natural bartering process between different factions within the GOP: The narrower the Republican's House majority ends up, the more he'll need to appease the rightmost side of his caucus into giving him their votes; already he has promised to reinstate MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to her committee posts under a GOP majority. As Greene explained in October to The New York Times: "to be the best speaker of the House and to please the base, [McCarthy is] going to give me a lot of power and a lot of leeway." Should he become speaker, McCarthy will likely be forced to continually appease the hard-right wing of his caucus to secure their crucial support for a legislative agenda that will be largely driven by their bloc.
Beyond the typical wheeling and dealing to secure the speakership, McCarthy must also contend with a growing sentiment among some in the party that the GOP's lackluster midterms performance was somewhat his fault — despite his having raised hundreds of millions of dollars for Republican candidates. Some conservative commentators have called for McCarthy's ousting for failing to lead the Republicans to his promised 60-vote majority, while Gaetz has reportedly been actively whipping colleagues to vote against a McCarthy speaker's bid.
McCarthy has been here before, having failed to succeed then-Speaker John Boehner nearly a decade ago. Unlike then, McCarthy now has the endorsement of the most powerful animating force in Republican politics: former President Donald Trump. But with Republicans increasingly frustrated with what they see as Trump's deleterious influence on the midterm results, some have begun questioning whether the former president might move to deflect those criticisms by joining those in the party looking to blame McCarthy. If he does, it's possible the cracks beginning to show across McCarthy's path to the speaker's gavel could break wide open.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
Groypers: the alt-right group pulled into the foreground
The Explainer The group is led by alt-right activist Nick Fuentes
-
10 concert tours to see this upcoming fall
The Week Recommends Concert tour season isn't over. Check out these headliners.
-
How to put student loan payments on pause
The Explainer If you are starting to worry about missing payments, deferment and forbearance can help
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants