With only four days to go before the vote to elect the Speaker of the House of Representatives, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy is weaving alliances and offering concessions to win the support of the majority of his party. In that line, in an attempt to convince his main critics, he is considering the possibility of lowering the threshold of votes needed to force a vote on the removal of the president from office.
Currently, a majority of the representatives is required to request the motion. Hard-line conservatives, as well as more moderate ones, welcome a decrease in the number. Although the figures requested by some are very different.
While the more radical legislators call for a threshold of between one and five votes, another party considers that the number should be around 50. McCarthy is currently negotiating with both sectors of the Republican Party, although it is not an easy task.
We're learning in real-time how Twitter colluded to silence the truth about Hunter Biden's laptop just days before the 2020 presidential election.⁰
In 32 days, the new House Republican majority will get answers for the American people and the accountability they deserve.— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) December 3, 2022
Who is threatening McCarthy's candidacy?
So far, five representatives have threatened not to vote for McCarthy: Andy Biggs (Arizona), Matt Gaetz (Florida), Bob Good (Florida), Ralph Norman (South Carolina) and Matthew Rosendale (Montana). If they do indeed agree not to support the leader, then he would fall short of the 218 votes needed (in total, the Republican Party has 222). In that case, GOP lawmakers would have to vote again until one member gets the required seats.
Donald Trump, who has already spoken out in favor of McCarthy, warned the most critical Republican lawmakers that they are "playing a very dangerous game." He added: "You could end up in a worse situation. I don't even want to say in what way, but I could tell you that you could end up in a worse situation."
