Kevin McCarthy is barely holding on to his position as Speaker.
He has had to make more concessions to conservatives than he ever dreamed possible.
Now, Kevin McCarthy is going crazy after Chip Roy made one promise.
Chip Roy is one of the most conservative members of Congress. He is a diehard believer in the Constitution and is willing to take on difficult political fights to defend liberty.
He was one of the members of the House who led the fight in negotiating with Kevin McCarthy and extracting a deal out of him.
Of course, his plan worked out in the end. McCarthy became Speaker, but was forced to pass the most conservative rules package in decades in the House.
Now, Chip Roy is giving a preview of what’s to come in the upcoming Congress.
According to The Hill, “Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) on Sunday dismissed the tensions that simmered as the House voted for its Speaker, saying Capitol Hill needs conflict to bring lawmakers to the debate table.”
Roy had this to say: “Let’s remember that a little temporary conflict is necessary in this town in order to stop this town from rolling over the American people.”
“I don’t think anybody, on either side of the aisle, could say with a straight face that they think Washington is doing good work for the American people on a regular basis and isn’t broken. We have to work to fix this place.”
Chip Roy was responding to media members who were complaining about conservatives’ efforts to extract concessions from McCarthy.
They knew that McCarthy had a long history of aligning with the Establishment, and that he would be unlikely to allow members of the House to introduce amendments to cut spending and promote liberty.
That’s why they were so adamant about passing a rules package that would allow any member of the House to offer amendments and have them voted on.
A rules package like that would prevent someone like McCarthy from packing a bunch of special-interest goodies into a must-pass omnibus bill at the last minute.
That’s why Roy and others pushed so hard for a rules change, and were ultimately successful.
The article continues, “A group of around 20 Republicans banded together to cast ballots for alternate candidates and force McCarthy into a stalemate until a number ultimately switched their vote or voted ‘present,’ helping him to a 216-vote win, with all 212 Democrats supporting [Minority Leader Hakeem] Jeffries.”
“Roy was a leading McCarthy opponent, nominating Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) for the gavel in his stead, but supported McCarthy in the last couple rounds of voting.”
The battle for the Speakership was intense and there was a lot of uncertainty, but the end result was good.
The House needed a Speaker, and McCarthy was chosen for that role.
But if McCarthy thought he could steamroll over conservatives in his new job as Speaker, Chip Roy made sure that wasn’t going to happen by playing his hand well at the negotiating table.