The race to replace John Boehner as Speaker of the House just heated up big time.
Reports say the House Freedom Caucus will back Congressman Daniel Webster for Speaker.
The other candidates for Speaker include House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz.
The group recently met with Speaker candidates and came to the conclusion that Webster was the candidate to support in tomorrow’s vote. A full floor vote will occur later this month.
Congressman Curt Clawson, a former basketball standout at Purdue University and Congressman from Southwest Florida, praised Webster in a statement to Conservative Intel.
“In basketball and in business it is critical that we stand together as a team and do what is right for the team” said Clawson. “I am supporting Congressman Webster from Florida for Speaker and am urging members of the Freedom caucus to stay strong and stand together as a team of Constitutional conservatives.”
Calls for someone like popular South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy continue to rage as conservatives have been unhappy with the current crop of candidates. It will be interesting to see how much traction Webster gets and whether the Freedom Caucus sticks with him.
Conservative Intel recently wrote about issues the HFC had with McCarthy and how the “hell no” caucus could disrupt the Speaker’s race.
“House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy faces significant opposition in his quest to replace John Boehner as Speaker of the House. Reports say the House Freedom Caucus holds the cards for McCarthy or any other candidate to get the 218 votes needed to win the Speaker election.
McCarthy doesn’t sell with members of the “hell no caucus,” and though grabbing more positive reviews than the California Congressman, Jason Chaffetz and Daniel Webster aren’t exactly electrifying the group.
If McCarthy can’t get the votes, and a stalemate develops with Chaffetz and Webster also coming up short, the conference could be forced to look elsewhere, possibly rallying around a reluctant Speaker candidate like South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, or even Michigan Rep. Justin Amash.
Gowdy has said he has no interest in running, but a consensus candidate like him could be drafted into the race to avoid continuing a messy battle on the House floor.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, the House Freedom Caucus is a small but smart and strategic group.
“If there is one organized group that could claim responsibility for the environment that led the Ohio Republican to call it quits, it is the House Freedom Caucus, a collection of 40 or so staunch conservatives who are held together by a simple belief: The party needs to fight harder for its causes.
Now, as Republicans begin the process of choosing a successor to Mr. Boehner, the group’s members are bringing the same game of disrupting the establishment to the leadership elections in an effort that could make it difficult for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California to ascend to the speaker’s job as easily as had been expected.
While the group represents only a slice of the 247 members of the Republican conference, it has managed to find ways to wield power and amplify its message by using social media and talk radio and working with outside groups such as the well-funded Heritage Foundation and the grass-roots group FreedomWorks. The House speaker may run the chamber, but conservatives have a strong outside game…
But the caucus members do have enough votes to prevent Republicans from coalescing around a new speaker, threatening to disrupt the succession process. The House GOP is expected to meet Thursday to choose its nominee to succeed Mr. Boehner, probably Mr. McCarthy. But the next step in the process may not unfold as smoothly as usual, in which the majority party rallies behind its choice in a House floor vote for speaker.
Democrats are expected to back their own choice, probably Minority Leader Nancy Pelosiof California, meaning a Republican would need 218 GOP votes to win. Assuming the Freedom Caucus sticks together and opposes Mr. McCarthy, it could force a deadlock. If Mr. McCarthy didn’t win the majority of members voting for a speaker, the voting would be repeated. That would be a painful rebuke to Mr. McCarthy, though he has expressed confidence in his ability to win.”
