Legendarily uncourageous “Speaker-elect” Kevin McCarthy is facing an impossible demand from the hardcore MAGA wing of the House GOP caucus, who insist that their support is contingent on him allowing for any member, at any time, call a “motion to vacate,” which is exactly what it sounds like: the option to force a vote to remove and replace the Speaker, Punchbowl News reports.
The numbers aren’t totally clear quite yet, given the lack of a viable alternative, but at least six MAGA members of the House are dead set against McCarthy and will not budge. In a 222 member GOP caucus vs 212 Dems who will almost certainly all vote in unison for their Speaker candidate, McCarthy can afford to lose those six as long as they don’t vote for anyone else, since the Speaker is determined by a majority, not a plurality vote. If he fails to get a simple majority of members voting for a candidate by name then the House goes to a re-vote again and again until a winner is picked.