Far-Right GOP House Members May Stage A Revolt To Kick Out McCarthy

As House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Republican-California) continues to negotiate a deal to avoid a debt crisis, members of the far-right Freedom Caucus are growing furious with him over broken promises he made to them.

Photo Insert: On the debt ceiling deal, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said "I am going to have to go have some blunt conversations with my colleagues and the leadership team. I don’t like the direction they are headed.”

MSNBC political analyst Steve Benen said that with a slim GOP majority in the House, McCarthy is walking a tightrope to get a budget deal passed and may need help from House Democrats if members of his caucus refuse to go along with him, Tom Boggioni reported.

As Benen points out, in order to win the speakership McCarthy agreed to an easier path for a motion to "vacate the chair" which could end his tenure as Speaker. That could come into play if the Freedom Caucus stages a revolt.

"As the negotiations approach an apparent finish line, the House Republicans’ most radical faction is learning that it isn’t likely to get everything its members demanded — and for the Freedom Caucus, that’s not going to work," he wrote in his MSNBC column.

Benen suggested far-right House Republicans are now issuing veiled threats. In an interview, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said "I am going to have to go have some blunt conversations with my colleagues and the leadership team. I don’t like the direction they are headed.”

Based on Politico’s reporting, Benen said "the House Freedom Caucus was already unlikely to support a final bipartisan deal, but lingering anger with Kevin McCarthy could have lasting implications on his speakership. If this were simply a matter of lingering ill-will from members who come to believe that GOP leaders 'caved,' the practical consequences might be limited. But let’s also not forget that McCarthy, while begging his own members for their support during his protracted fight for the speaker’s gavel, agreed to tweak the motion-to-vacate-the-chair rules, which at least in theory, would make it easier for angry House Republicans to try to oust McCarthy from his leadership position."

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