Twitter CEO Elon Musk endorsed Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Thursday to be the next House Speaker as members of Congress continue to negotiate and vote for who they want to fill the leadership role.
“Kevin McCarthy should be Speaker,” Musk tweeted. In a follow-up tweet several hours later, Musk asked, “If not McCarthy, then seriously who?”
Subtle, but I am beginning to suspect opinions differ on this matter …
If not McCarthy, then seriously who?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 5, 2023
McCarthy, who served as House minority leader before the GOP won a majority in November, seemed poised to become the nation’s third-most powerful elected official until a small group of Republicans refused to back him in a series of votes this week.
In a Thursday morning tweet thread, Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro laid out what is happening behind the scenes, and indicated that there could be division among the 20 Republican holdouts.
Shapiro said that a few of the Republicans who were holding out on McCarthy had some specific requests about what they wanted, while the others who refuse to support McCarthy “have no plan whatsoever.”
“The former group’s strategy can be worthwhile: use your outsized leverage to exact commitments to vote on funding bills by department, for example, rather than in an omnibus,” Shapiro said. “The latter group — never McCarthy, under any circumstances — will likely force a wild counterplay.”
“That counterplay could take the form of Republicans and Democrats voting to appoint the Speaker by plurality rather than majority,” he added. “If that happens, this puts the Never McCarthy group in the position of either voting for McCarthy, or letting Hakeem Jeffries become speaker.”
That counterplay could take the form of Republicans and Democrats voting to appoint the Speaker by plurality rather than majority. If that happens, this puts the Never McCarthy group in the position of either voting for McCarthy, or letting Hakeem Jeffries become speaker.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 5, 2023
McCarthy has given the small group of Republicans many of the concessions that they have wanted, including allowing for one member to introduce a motion to vacate rather than five, enabling lawmakers to more easily replace McCarthy should he become the presiding officer, according to a report from Axios based on multiple Republican sources. He also promised to hold votes on term limits and border security, as well as grant the House Freedom Caucus more seats on the powerful House Rules Committee.
Greg Wilson and Ben Zeisloft contributed to this report.