Republican leader Kevin McCarthy’s office rejects claim GOP asked Texas Democrat to
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy’s office rejects claim GOP asked Texas Democrat to SWITCH parties to help increase the House majority – with control still in the balance
- House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy is currently trying to gin up support for his House Speakership bid if Republicans retake the chamber
- It comes amid a rebellion from some members in his caucus over the lack of a promised ‘red wave’ in the midterm elections last week
- Control of the House is still up in the air as of Monday evening, with Republicans holding 212 seats in the new Congress and Democrats so far with 204
- The Wall Street Journal reported that McCarthy’s circle has been courting Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar with committee assignment promises
- Cuellar has reportedly rejected all offers he’s received
- The Texas legislator’s spokesman declined to go into his private conversations but specified that Cuellar is a ‘lifelong Democrat’
- McCarthy’s spokesman has dismissed the reports as ‘fan fiction’
- ‘This is McCarthy trying to flip a lifelong Democrat because of the Republicans’ poor midterm results,’ a person familiar told DailyMail.com
House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy‘s office on Monday rejected reporting that his circle was trying to persuade Rep. Henry Cuellar, perhaps the House’s most conservative Democrat, into switching parties.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday afternoon that Cuellar had rejected ‘multiple calls’ from McCarthy allies to cross the aisle.
It comes as Republicans face down the reality of one of the worst performances in a midterm by a party out of power in recent US history.
McCarthy’s bid for the House Speakership appeared to be in peril, but a source told DailyMail.com on Monday evening after the first day of the leadership races that nobody rose to challenge him. He also received a standing ovation after his remarks to his caucus.
But as of Monday evening, it’s not even clear yet which party will control the House of Representatives next year.
‘This is McCarthy trying to flip a lifelong Democrat because of the Republicans’ poor midterm results and missing out on a red wave,’ a person familiar told DailyMail.com.
McCarthy’s allies reportedly tried tantalizing Cuellar with influential committee positions – but failed.
Cuellar currently sits on the House Appropriations Committee, where the majority of government funding has to pass through in order to become law.
McCarthy spokesman Mark Bednar told DailyMail.com that ‘Anyone suggesting this is simply exercising in fan fiction.’
Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar has reportedly been courted to cross the aisle, according to the Wall Street Journal
House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (seen returning to Congress on November 14 for Republicans’ leadership forum) rejected that report via his spokesman
‘Leader McCarthy is going to be elected Speaker by the current and newly-elected members of the House Republican Conference,’ Bednar said in the statement provided to multiple media outlets.
‘Our efforts are exclusively focused on bringing our conference together and saving the country.’
Cuellar’s chief of staff Jake Hochberg declined to give details of his boss’s conversations with other lawmakers but went out of his way to call the Texas lawmaker a ‘lifelong Democrat.’
‘As a standard rule we do not discuss private conversations between members of Congress,’ Hochberg said.
‘However, Congressman Cuellar is a lifelong Democrat and will remain a Democrat. Period.’
As of Monday evening, the GOP is still struggling to reach a majority in the House, but is expected to narrowly do so, despite pre-election projections forecasting at least a 20-seat pickup.
Democrats retained control of the Senate with a 50th seat called for the party on Saturday, and the House is still up in the air
The parties need to clinch 218 seats for a majority in the House of Representatives
The new Congress is currently split with 212 Republicans and 204 Democrats.
Either party needs 218 members for a majority.
And Republican lawmakers appear to be readying for a rebellion against current party leadership, with the conservative House Freedom Caucus poised to have significant sway if their party clinches the majority along narrow margins.
Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry told reporters on Thursday that he had not heard from McCarthy since before the election, but it’s not clear if that’s changed as the leader has been making the rounds to lobby Republicans for his Speakership bid.
Multiple conservative members of the Republican caucus have called for delaying leadership elections until the final House tally is at least settled.
Politico reported on Sunday that Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, also part of the Freedom Caucus, may seek to challenge McCarthy for the Speakership just to derail his momentum.
But the conservative caucus itself is split on how to act, so it’s not clear if all 43 members will act in a monolith to hold McCarthy’s ambitions for the gavel hostage.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia urged colleagues to back McCarthy during an interview on Steve Bannon’s War Room Podcast, comparing the ‘anti-Kevin’ faction of Republicans to the ‘anti-Trump’ resistance faced by the ex-president.
Her staunch ally, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, said on Charlie Kirk’s Real America’s Voice program: ‘There are definitely at least five people, actually a lot more than that, who would rather be waterboarded by Liz Cheney than vote for Kevin McCarthy for Speaker of the House.’