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Hard-line Republican lawmakers threatened to exact revenge for a deal between the White House and GOP congressional leaders to avert a catastrophic US debt default, with one conservative saying he plans to force a vote on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster.
Representative Dan Bishop of North Carolina told reporters Tuesday he plans to trigger the formal process to remove the speaker. The “motion to vacate has to be done,” he said.
Bishop declined to answer questions on whether he would seek to mount his challenge before Wednesday’s scheduled debt-limit vote, leaving unclear whether it would upend the House’s plan to act on the deal. “Every course of action is available,” he said.
McCarthy gained his post only after forging a tenuous alliance with Republican hard-liners and an extraordinary 15 rounds of voting. He could be ousted if only a few Republicans back his removal, unless he relies on support from at least some Democrats.
Any House member can force a vote on removing the speaker, which requires a simple majority of the House. Traditionally members of the opposition party have not voted in favor of the speaker, though some moderate Democrats already have committed to support McCarthy in such a situation.
Hard-line conservatives oppose the debt-limit deal struck by McCarthy and President Joe Biden but most have stopped short of calling for McCarthy’s job, though at least one other conservative hinted at retaliation during a press conference at the Capitol by the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus.
“No matter what happens, there is going to be a reckoning,” Representative Chip Roy of Texas said Tuesday, adding that House Republicans have been “torn asunder” by the agreement.
“McCarthy has lost some trust,” said Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina.
Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, chairman of the group, sidestepped a question on whether he or others would seek to remove McCarthy from the speaker’s post.
“I am focused on defeating this bill,” Perry responded, adding the debt deal “fails to deliver.”
Bishop said conservative dissented will decide the best time to act against McCarthy. No other Republican lawmakers have explicitly called for his removal in public remarks.
