If You Can't Win, Cheat
From the WSJ
Democrat Henry Cuellar Rejected Request From Allies of GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy to Switch Parties
Allies of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) made multiple calls to Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas over the weekend and asked him if he would switch parties to expand the GOP majority, according to five people familiar with the calls.
The pitch to Mr. Cuellar came as Mr. McCarthy struggles to reach the 218-vote threshold needed on the House floor to secure the speakership if his party wins a narrow majority.
One person said Mr. Cuellar, who sits on the powerful appropriations committee, was offered committee positions and asked what it would take for him to switch.
Mr. Cuellar turned them down, according to multiple people.
A spokesman for Mr. McCarthy said the calls weren't made at the request of Mr. McCarthy. "Anyone suggesting this is simply exercising in fan fiction," said spokesman Mark Bednar. "Leader McCarthy is going to be elected speaker by the current and newly-elected members of the House Republican Conference. Our efforts are exclusively focused on bringing our conference together and saving the country," he said.
Mr. Cuellar just got done with a bruising re-election battle in which the Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC aligned with Mr. McCarthy, spent roughly $5 million to defeat him.
Mr. Cuellar, the only antiabortion House Democrat serving in Congress, is expected to easily defeat GOP challenger Cassy Garcia. He leads by 13 percentage points with 95% of the votes in.
Mr. McCarthy has been running into resistance from his party’s right flank, which now has greater leverage to influence the vote.
Mr. McCarthy will need a simple majority of his conference in Tuesday’s planned leadership vote to be selected as the party’s preference for leader. To become speaker, he will need a majority of the full House in a vote in January.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.), during a GOP closed door member meeting Monday afternoon, asked Mr. McCarthy if he would solicit or accept Democrats' support in his speaker bid. Mr. McCarthy responded "no, and I never have," according to two people in the room.
Democrat Henry Cuellar Rejected Request From Allies of GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy to Switch Parties
Allies of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) made multiple calls to Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas over the weekend and asked him if he would switch parties to expand the GOP majority, according to five people familiar with the calls.
The pitch to Mr. Cuellar came as Mr. McCarthy struggles to reach the 218-vote threshold needed on the House floor to secure the speakership if his party wins a narrow majority.
One person said Mr. Cuellar, who sits on the powerful appropriations committee, was offered committee positions and asked what it would take for him to switch.
Mr. Cuellar turned them down, according to multiple people.
A spokesman for Mr. McCarthy said the calls weren't made at the request of Mr. McCarthy. "Anyone suggesting this is simply exercising in fan fiction," said spokesman Mark Bednar. "Leader McCarthy is going to be elected speaker by the current and newly-elected members of the House Republican Conference. Our efforts are exclusively focused on bringing our conference together and saving the country," he said.
Mr. Cuellar just got done with a bruising re-election battle in which the Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC aligned with Mr. McCarthy, spent roughly $5 million to defeat him.
Mr. Cuellar, the only antiabortion House Democrat serving in Congress, is expected to easily defeat GOP challenger Cassy Garcia. He leads by 13 percentage points with 95% of the votes in.
Mr. McCarthy has been running into resistance from his party’s right flank, which now has greater leverage to influence the vote.
Mr. McCarthy will need a simple majority of his conference in Tuesday’s planned leadership vote to be selected as the party’s preference for leader. To become speaker, he will need a majority of the full House in a vote in January.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.), during a GOP closed door member meeting Monday afternoon, asked Mr. McCarthy if he would solicit or accept Democrats' support in his speaker bid. Mr. McCarthy responded "no, and I never have," according to two people in the room.
