GOP Reps. Dan Bishop (N.C.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.) on Tuesday officially came out against Rep. Kevin McCarthy's bid for Speaker, piling onto the California Republican's increasingly complicated path to securing the gavel.
Bishop and Boebert, who had both been withholding support of McCarthy in hopes of securing changes to House rules, had not previously made public their intentions in the Speaker’s vote on Tuesday. They join a group of hardline conservatives who have vowed not to support McCarthy, who served as House minority leader in the previous Democratic-majority Congress.
“Kevin McCarthy is not the right candidate to be Speaker,” Bishop said Tuesday. “He has perpetuated the Washington status quo that makes this body one of the most unsuccessful and unpopular institutions in the country.”
Boebert said after a Republican conference meeting on Tuesday that the demands being made by the group of McCarthy holdouts, which include a lower threshold for a “motion to vacate," are reasonable requests.
“This is not a personal wishlist. This is not something that is unreasonable,” Boebert said. “This is just for the American people.”
She seemed to take exception to the tone in the Republican conference meeting on Tuesday, in which McCarthy was described by Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) as “fired up” as he pressed his caucus for unity.
“Now here we are, being sworn at instead of being sworn in,” Boebert said. “We could’ve had this solved months ago.”
While an expanding group of lawmakers lines up to try and block him from victory, a defiant McCarthy has said he plans to fight for the Speakership for as long as it takes.
