Steve Scalise says Kevin McCarthy needs to fix tensions that pushed ... trends now
House Republicans have resorted to in-fighting after an 11-member right-wing faction of their party ground floor business to a halt this week over dissatisfactions with leadership.
It was a light week on Capitol Hill this week all-around: the House canceled remaining votes for the week on Wednesday, after a rules vote failed Tuesday to advance gas stove legislation. In the upper chamber, senators gaveled out for the weekend on Thursday after only two days in session.
And in a notable non-defense of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Majority Leader Steve Scalise told Punchbowl News 'I don't know' when asked if the speaker had broken promises to Freedom Caucus members that he made during the speaker's race.
'I don't know what the promises were. I wasn't part of that. … So I still don't know what those agreements were. Whatever they are, [conservatives] feel that the agreements were broken. That's got to get resolved. Hopefully it does.'
McCarthy name-checked Majority Leader Steve Scalise when asked if those who opposed the gas stove rule were upset about the debt limit deal. 'I think there's a lot of different things. I just think sometimes it's personalities too, everybody has different things they're upset with. With the Clyde thing that was about Scalise, that's what started it,' the speaker told reporters
The majority leader was admitting he had not been a part of the negotiations that got McCarthy the gavel in January - just as he was essentially frozen out of negotiations over the debt limit.
Instead of Scalise, fellow Louisiana Rep. Garret Graves, a longtime friend of McCarthy, and Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., took the lead on negotiating with the White House.
'[McCarthy’s] got to resolve those issues with those members who have those feelings. You know, I’m working on getting the pistol-brace bill passed, and we’re bringing it next week,' Scalise said, noting their was 'a lot of anger on a lot of sides of our conference.'
Scalise's comments came after the speaker laid blame on him for the surprise rule vote drama, where 11 GOP members voted 'no' as a sign of protest against McCarthy and his negotiated debt deal - which they said violated 'fundamental commitments' he had made during the 15-ballot speaker's race.
The legislation banning President Biden from regulation gas stoves is widely popular within the GOP conference and was expected to sail through the House before dying in the read more from dailymail.....
