House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is the favorite to replace John Boehner as Speaker of the House, but McCarthy is in for a fight as he battles Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Rep. Daniel Webster, with the possibility another candidate jumps in always looming.
For conservative elements in the House GOP conference, problems with McCarthy are nothing new.
McCarthy was blasted in a January article for being too close with the “Gang Of 8” immigration reform effort.
According to The National Review:
“The guy who can seize that gavel, given Scalise’s weakness and given the heavyweights who have decided to sit this out, is Kevin McCarthy,” the Republican lawmaker says. For conservatives who dislike Boehner, that’s a cure worse than the disease.
“I think [McCarthy] would have done the same thing [as Boehner] over the last two years, with one exception: that the Gang of Eight bill would be law today,” the lawmaker explains. “I believe he would have put Gang of Eight on the floor with Democratic votes and passed it. I’m a big Boehner critic, but he did kill that, and that’s probably more than Kevin would have done.”
McCarthy was also the subject of recent controversy after comments he made on the House Benghazi investigation.
