Twenty Republican members of the US House of Representatives refuse to support the speaker-designate Kevin McCarthy. Three of these apostates stand out in particular.
Some of the Republican party rebels on Wednesday during the debate over the choice of the new speaker.
The resistance came as no surprise. There was already opposition at the Republican faction meeting in November, when the future Speaker of the House of Representatives was nominated. Now the conservatives, who were protesting at the time, have carried out their threat. They accuse Kevin McCarthy of not responding to their demands or not responding enough. The following three Republican lawmakers represent a group that is seizing the moment and rebelling. It won’t be the last time.
The ringleader: Scott Perry, Pennsylvania
Since November, 60-year-old Scott Perry has been chairman of the Freedom Caucus, a particularly conservative group within the Republican faction. Nineteen of Kevin McCarthy’s 20 opponents belong to this group, which was founded in 2015 mainly by supporters of the Tea Party movement. It’s not that Perry and his group are just a mouthpiece for Donald Trump. They also voted in part against legislation that Trump introduced to the chamber during his tenure. They often did so on the grounds that the template was not radical enough.
In the case of Scott Perry, a member of the House of Representatives since 2013, he is a close follower of Trump. He actively propagated his lie about the stolen 2020 presidential election. He is said to have belonged to the group that encouraged Trump to try to avert his election defeat with the help of the Justice Department.
A few days ago, the Iraq veteran wrote to McCarthy asking him to clear the way. Since McCarthy has been a member of the Republican Party leadership for 14 years, he has long been part of the establishment. He gives in too quickly in the political battle and too often he doesn’t exhaust the pressure possibilities of the Republican Party. That’s why McCarthy isn’t helping to finally drain the political swamp in Washington. His conclusion: “Nothing changes if nothing changes.”
The standalone: Chip Roy, Texas
Chip Roy is also a member of the Freedom Caucus and a right-wing Republican. But the MP, elected in 2018, has also allowed himself to openly criticize Trump in recent years. According to the 50-year-old Roy, it is about really changing something. As a believing Christian, he almost sees it as his mission. He co-signed the letter initiated by Perry. He wants more debate in the House of Representatives. On Tuesday, Roy took the opportunity to draw attention to fundamental flaws in American democracy in an emotional speech in the grand chamber.
He has nothing against McCarthy, he stressed. But he criticized the fact that Congress passed laws for which the money was no longer available. As an example, he cited the monster law passed in December with a staggering price tag of $1.7 trillion. Roy said there was no time to read this law, which consists of a wide variety of templates.
Instead of McCarthy, Roy suggested party colleague Jim Jordan as speaker. Jordan turned down a candidacy, but he seems to be offering Roy from Texas what Roy is hoping for in a party leader: a clear opposition course to the Democrats. Jordan has attracted attention in recent years with sharp votes and criticism.
The Provocateur: Paul Gosar, Arizona
Paul Gosar, in the House of Representatives since 2011, represents the extremists within the Republican rebel group. He is considered a climate change denier, described the 2020 election as fake and called the people who violently stormed the Capitol two years ago “peaceful patriots”. The dental surgeon spreads untruths, spreads conspiracy theories and provokes with statements that not only Democrats, but also Republicans, again and again, hardly believe that he actually said them.
Just over a year ago, the 64-year-old published an anime video that shows him fighting the Democrats and in which he and two fellow campaigners threaten the American president and murder left-wing Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He did not get off scot-free: the House of Representatives gave him a formal reprimand and revoked his membership of the committees on which Gosar sat. Gosar never misses an opportunity to stray and provoke. No wonder he’s there now.