WASHINGTON — If it’s Thursday ... Speaker stalemate drags on as Kevin McCarthy loses sixth-straight vote. ... House returns at noon after narrowly voting to adjourn Wednesday night. ... McCarthy offers conservative opponents more concessions, per NBC’s Capitol Hill team. ... President Biden says he intends to visit U.S.-Mexico border for first time as president ahead of upcoming Mexico City summit. ... And here’s what that CLF-Club for Growth deal really means.
But first: The House speaker stalemate is only the latest installment of a Republican-on-Republican fight that’s been playing out for a decade.
It’s just that this fight has been delayed or papered over — until now.
In 2013-2014, then-Speaker John Boehner and allies postponed the GOP’s conflict between its governing wing and far-right wing by placating conservatives with the Benghazi committee (remember that?).
After Boehner exited as speaker, House Republicans of all factions united around Paul Ryan, who succeeded Boehner.
Then came Donald Trump’s presidency, which kept Republicans together while they held the majority.
But now there’s no Benghazi committee, Paul Ryan or Donald Trump to bring House Republicans together over what’s supposed to be the easiest vote they’ll take over the next two years.
“I think it’s time to have it out in the open,” Rep. James Comer, a McCarthy supporter, said on Meet the Press NOW yesterday.
“A lot of those guys have never served in a legislative body before,” Comer added, per NBC’s Isabelle Schmeler. “They’ve never been in the majority. So they don’t understand that no one’s ever going to get 100% of what you want. You just have to make your best case and fight for the best deal you can get.”
Two questions we have ahead of today’s next round of votes.
One, what happens if these new McCarthy concessions don’t move the needle? Then what?
Two, do House Republicans really want to hold another round of speaker votes tomorrow — on the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol?
Quote of the day
“You have 20 people demanding that 201 surrender to them unconditionally. Well, I will not surrender unconditionally.”
Rep.Trent Kelly, R-Miss.
Data Download: The number of the day is … 21
That’s how many Republican House members didn’t back GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy during Wednesday’s votes. Twenty of those voted for Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds, including Donalds himself, while one, Indiana GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz, voted present.
Spartz had voted for McCarthy on Tuesday, but she said in a statement explaining her “present” vote that “we have to deliberate further as a Republican conference until we have enough votes and stop wasting everyone’s time.” She said she voted present because “none of the Republican candidates have this number yet.”
Other numbers to know:
216: How many House members voted to adjourn Wednesday night instead of holding another vote for speaker, edging out the 214 who voted no.
$500,000: The new reward for information that ultimately leads to the arrest of the person who left pipe bombs near the Capitol ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
More than 950: The number of people the FBI arrested for their alleged involvement in the Capitol riot, per a press release from the FBI’s Washington Field Office, NBC News’ Michael Kosnar reports.
63.9: That’s the average age of the Senate in the 118th Congress, per an NBC News analysis.
57.5: That’s the average age of the House members-elect in the 118th Congress.
$140 million: How much a non-profit funded by billionaire George Soros gave to advocacy organizations and ballot initiatives, per CNBC.
29: The number of countries that have detected the XBB.1.5 Covid variant in them, a variant the World Health Organization considers the most contagious yet.
18,000: The number of jobs Amazon plans to cut, more than the company initially announced.
Eyes on 2024: McCarthy allies and conservative group make a deal
As Kevin McCarthy scrambled to win support for speaker, the McCarthy-aligned super PAC, Congressional Leadership Fund, and the conservative Club for Growth announced an agreement over primary involvement.
McCarthy’s detractors had called for leadership-affiliated groups to stay out of GOP primaries, and on Wednesday night, CLF’s president, Dan Conston, said in a statement that the group wouldn’t spend money in “any open-seat primaries in safe Republican districts” or give money for its allies to do so. He added that the group will still back incumbents and spend in races that “affect the majority.”
That last caveat makes the promise unclear, as some races in seemingly safe districts can become competitive depending on who wins a primary. And a scan of CLF’s primary spending shows they didn’t play in many primaries in seats considered safe for Republicans in the 2022 cycle.
But still, the deal may give some conservatives relief as they’ve repeatedly bristled at GOP leadership allies trying to help preferred candidates through GOP primaries in safe Republican districts where those primaries effectively decide who will join Congress.
Club for Growth President David McIntosh celebrated the deal in a statement, saying it “fulfills a major concern.” He added that “assuming these principles are met, Club for Growth will support Kevin McCarthy for speaker.
In other 2024 news:
Florida man: Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott is running a new national television ad as part of a seven-figure buy, per a campaign press release, that amplifies his decision to run for GOP leader against Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell and calls for Republicans to “help us change our party.”
Midterm lessons: The Republican National Committee’s audit of the 2022 elections will examine former President Donald Trump’s role midterm, RNC committeeman Henry Barbour, who is co-authoring the audit, told NBC News’ Allan Smith. “Looking at President Trump, what has he gotten right? And what has he gotten wrong? And how do we learn from that to win elections going forward?,” Barbour told Smith.
Building bridges: Ahead of a potential run for re-election, President Joe Biden stressed bipartisanship at an event with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday at an event highlighting the infrastructure package lawmakers passed last year.
Kennedy out: GOP Sen. John Kennedy announced Wednesday that he will not run for Louisiana governor this year, per the Associated Press. Kennedy wrote in an email to supporters, “At this juncture, I just think I can help my state and my country more in the Senate.”
ICYMI: What else is happening in the world
Thousands gathered at the Vatican on Thursday for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died on New Year’s Eve.
The U.S. Embassy in Cuba will be reopening visa and consular services for the first time since 2017.
An untold number of Southwest Airlines customers are still missing their checked luggage following last week’s meltdown that resulted in 15,000 flights canceled by one airline, the Washington Post reports.
Democratic mayors are calling on the White House to help them deal with an influx of migrants being bussed and flown north by governors of Southern states, Politico reports.
