Kevin McCarthy agreed to a series of concessions that have been criticized by both centrist Republicans and Democrats in order to win over hard-line Republican dissenters in his House speakership bid that took fifteen rounds of voting.
A bid for House speaker is on the table.
McCarthy, who won the speakership after 15 rounds of voting, agreed to vote separately on the appropriation bills, rather than allowing them to be lumped together into an end-of-year omnibus spending bill.
Conservative House GOP members blasted the omnibus bill that passed the House last month, with Rep. Matt Gaetz telling Fox News the House rules should never allow a "horrend".
McCarthy agreed to cap discretionary spending at the levels they were at the beginning of the Biden Administration for both defense and domestic spending in order to balance the federal budget within 10 years.
The measure, which could reduce national defense spending by $75 billion, was criticized by several House Republicans, with one of them saying it could back the government into sequester.
McCarthy agreed to create a subcommittee on the "Weaponization of the Federal Government," which would be tasked with probing the federal government's information collection on private individuals as well as its ongoing criminal investigations, potentially including the Department of Justice's probe.
The Holman rule allows for the reduction in government officials' salaries and any other compensation paid by the U.S. treasury.
McCarthy agreed to lower the number of GOP conference members needed to remove the speaker from five to one, even though he had previously said he wouldn't budge on the number.
McCarthy agreed to keep the Congressional Leadership Fund out of open House primary races for seats considered safe, and to appoint far- right House Freedom Caucus members to seats on the House Rules Committee.
The House Republicans were said to be considering backing away from a McCarthy speakership bid if they were not given enough concessions. There is only so much you can ask for, and I think we have reached that, according to Representative Chris Stewart.
Schumer accused McCarthy of capitulating to demands of a fringe element of the Republican party in order to cause a government shutdown.
McCarthy won the speakership with 216 votes just after midnight Saturday morning, after flipping 15 hard-line Republican votes on Friday and after four representatives who refused to support him changed their votes to "present" in the last round of voting. After 15 rounds, the final vote brought the chamber to a standstill, preventing it from establishing rules or making committee assignments. Jim Jordan had urged GOP members to support McCarthy, but he was one of the people who chose to oppose him. The California Republican thanked Trump for his help in winning the speakership.
McCarthy agrees to some concessions in his quest to become speaker, but they may not be enough.
Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker of the house.
McCarthy made progress by flipping 15 Republican votes.
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