Last week, the House Freedom Caucus made it sound as if Speaker Kevin McCarthy's job is in jeopardy. This week, as stevebenen writes, the hapless faction is grudgingly slinking away.
the motion-to-vacate-the-chair rules, which at least in theory, would make it easier for angry House Republicans to try to oust McCarthy from his leadership position if he disappointed them.
But what the Freedom Caucus’ members are finding is that while the tool is available, they lack the wherewithal to wield it effectively.earlier coverage , House Freedom Caucus members genuinely seemed to believe they were running the show. They thought their far-right ransom note was their party’s inviolable plan. They thought they had a secret Rules Committee deal that would give them veto power. They thought they’d persuade the rest of the GOP conference to oppose the bill. They thought McCarthy would be afraid of the proverbial motion-to-vacate-the-chair sword hanging overhead.
To be sure, given the House Republicans’ tiny majority, the faction still has the votes to derail future measures as they reach the floor. But that would only put GOP leaders in a position of having to reach out to Democrats for votes — as previous House speakers such as John Boehner and Paul Ryan occasionally had to do — strengthening the hand of Republican opponents.
In other words, the Freedom Caucus lost the year’s biggest fight, can’t find the leverage it thought it had, and has no credible plan to reassert its influence.
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