Kevin McCarthy’s concessions, which earned him a bag full of votes for speaker

Kevin McCarthy’s concessions to a group of archconservatives got him 15 votes and (maybe) counted – while also likely creating future headaches, ground fighting, Senate clashes and maybe even a crisis over whether the US will default.

The latest concessions McCarthy negotiated were enough to persuade a group of elected MPs who had repeatedly voted against him on 12 consecutive votes amid the long-running televised spectacle.

They got almost everything they wanted – apart from the subcommittee hammers, which other members of the conference dismissed as unfair reinforcements, although McCarthy still failed to prevail on the 13th vote to elect him speaker.

Kevin McCarthy gave in to a series of demands from conservative rebels in his bid to become Speaker

Representation of the Rules Committee

Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus have received pledges to join the governing body. The committee exercises tremendous power by setting the terms of the debate, but usually acts as the speaker’s tool. (Traditionally, it has a 9:4 ratio, so the majority never loses).

With more representation, Conservatives will be able to help enable amendments on policy issues and ways to message everything from abortion to government spending.

The panel also decides which members get the floor and prestige when their amendments are debated – another opportunity to build their group’s profile.

Individual member can “vacate the chair”

If McCarthy thought this week was difficult to overcome a group of holdouts, it could be even more difficult when he becomes spokesman.

A single member would move to “vacate the chair”. This returns to the earlier procedure that Freedom Caucus threatened former Speaker John Boehner.

McCarthy had already agreed to a five-vote requirement to pass the motion, essentially a vote of no confidence in the Speaker, and had agreed to lower it to a single legislature.

Rep. Elect Scott Perry, R-Pa. helped negotiate concessions with McCarthy allies

Rep. Elect Chip Roy, R-Texas, was another holdout who helped broker a deal, switching to support McCarthy

The concessions to conservatives on spending bills could lead to a standoff with the Democrat-led Senate, in which Republicans, including Sen. Mitch McConnell, will take a different stance

Hard line on the debt limit

McCarthy has agreed to take a hard line on raising the legal debt limit – which Congress must lift to reflect spending he has approved through appropriations.

Lawmakers weren’t direct about what the exact deal was. But one of the holdouts who tipped, Rep.-elect Ralph Norman, had called for a very hard line.

“Is he willing to shut down the government instead of raising the debt ceiling? This is a non-negotiable point,” Norman said before switching back to McCarthy.

Rep. Elect Chip Roy (R-Texas) declined to reveal the exact nature of the deal, the Washington Post and other media outlets reported. “I won’t go into detail because I’ll have a few more hours of talks here. But what I want to say is that we can say with certainty that we believe there are specific concrete spending limits associated with raising the debt ceiling,” he told reporters, blowing the $1.7 trillion -Omnibus bill, which was passed as the last major act of the Democratic Congress.

That suggests the House of Representatives could try to force the government to accept spending cuts — something Democrats are sure to resist.

Votes on term limits and border security

The holdouts reportedly received a promise to hold a vote on term limits and border security. The former in particular could drive a wedge through the conference. McCarthy himself was elected to the House of Representatives in 2006.

The legislation would likely die in the Senate, where it would be subject to a filibuster.

open primaries

The Conservative Leadership Fund, a McCarthy-backed PAC, has brokered a deal with the Club for Growth that will impact Republicans entering the House in the future.

The CLF pledged to stay out of “open” primary elections if a lawmaker vacates a seat. That gives arch-conservatives a chance to prevail in a primary without being beaten by leadership, which is sometimes weighted on behalf of candidates deemed “more eligible.”

“CLF will not issue open-seat primaries in safe Republican districts, and CLF will not grant resources to other super PACs to do so. CLF has never traded a dollar against a Republican incumbent and will obviously continue to do so in the future,” the Club for Growth website said in a statement. The group has backed many of the conservative holdouts. The group backed McCarthy, accepting the terms of the completed deal.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy reportedly offered the 20 renegade Republicans a list of concessions he would make in exchange for their votes in the speaker’s race

Middle

McCarthy reportedly agreed to allow “open rules” on spending measures, which could lead to protracted debate and efforts to zero funding for programs unpopular with Republicans.

But the votes can also give Democrats guns for use in campaign ads and potentially spill GOP appropriators from Freedom Caucus members.

According to Politico, the deal includes a requirement to submit independent budget accounts. Conservatives loathe the “omnibus” bills that lump together multiple spending bills when shutdowns loom. Passing individual bills is something both parties routinely try and fail by the end of the fiscal year.

Another commitment was to allow voting on the issuance of ‘purposes’, projects inserted by individual members. House Republicans brought the practice back in 2021 by a vote at their conference. According to Politico, it was not clear whether they would be elected individually or as a block.

Though despised by good government groups, leaders in both parties have relied on this practice to secure support for the legislation.

Discretionary Spending Cap

Another concession is a cap on discretionary spending, CNN reported. although spending levels are usually negotiated by both houses – and influenced by the president’s budget proposals.

“Armoring” the Ministry of Justice and the CCP’s Special Committee

Republicans are preparing to take on the Biden administration, and the rebels forced a commitment to create a government “armaments” committee. The idea was floated as a subcommittee in the House Judiciary Committee. Its exact structure and membership was uncertain.

According to the prepared house rules package guides, the procedure creates a “select subcommittee to arm the federal government as a select investigative subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee”. It also creates a special committee “on the strategic competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party”.