House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is being called out for allegedly going back on a pledge he made to conservatives less than a month after they agreed to back him for his leadership post.
On Thursday, the House passed a resolution condemning China after Bejing sent a suspected spy balloon over the country last week before the Biden administration shot it down off the coast of South Carolina. President Biden was ripped by Republicans and some Democrats for allowing the balloon to traverse the country after initially spotting it before it crossed into Alaska.
Newsweek reports:
McCarthy was victorious in his pursuit of becoming House speaker after a historic 15 rounds of voting in early January. To ensure enough votes to secure the House speaker position, McCarthy conceded to other lawmakers on various topics. A package of rules including the new requests passed in January.
One of the rules included in the approved package was allowing 72 hours for the House to review resolutions before voting, according to a report by CBS News. The rule was created after many Republicans voiced outrage that Congress voted on a more-than-4,000-page $1.7 trillion government spending package last fall shortly after the legislation was released.
Jake Sherman, the founder of Punchbowl News, tweeted that the GOP-controlled House violated the rule by voting on the resolution just a day after it was made available to read.
“The House is voting on a resolution condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s use of a surveillance balloon. This resolution came out yesterday and is getting a vote today,” Sherman tweeted Thursday morning. “So much for having bills out with multiple days to review! That lasted a month!”
The House is voting on a resolution condemning the Chinese Communist Party's use of a surveillance balloon.
This resolution came out yesterday and is getting a vote today.
So much for having bills out with multiple days to review! That lasted a month!
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) February 9, 2023
Earlier this week, McCarthy vowed to make more changes in the U.S. House of Representatives after kicking three controversial Democrats off of committees.
“I think what we should do is put into the rules that there is a code of conduct here, but I don’t know the definition, exactly what all that’s going to mean. I think that should be clear,” McCarthy told reporters.
“Let’s just put it in perspective of what the Democrats did and what Republicans are doing. So, the Democrats in the last Congress removed Republican members from all committees. They even judged one Republican member not based upon what she had said as a member of Congress, but what she said prior to ever getting here,” McCarthy said, referring to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“I’m not removing people from all committees, and I’m not judging something that someone said when they’re not a member of Congress,” McCarthy added.
WATCH:
Late last month, during an interview with CBS, McCarthy took umbrage at questions he was asked by Margaret Brennan, suggesting she was being politically biased for allegedly failing to ask Democratic leaders similar questions.
The California Republican’s pushback came during an appearance on “Face the Nation” as the two discussed how some GOP congressional members questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election.
“You’ve put many of them on very key committees, intelligence, homeland security, oversight,” Brennan said. “Why are you elevating people who are denying reality like that?”
“Well, if you look to the Democrats, their ranking member, [Rep. Jaime] Raskin (Md.) had the same thing, denied Trump or Bush was in there,” McCarthy responded. “Bennie Thompson, who was —”
Brennan interrupted immediately, however, leading McCarthy to interject.
“Did you also be fair and equal and where you looked at — Raskin did the same thing?” McCarthy asked. “Bennie Thompson, who’s a ranking member and was the chair. These individuals were chair in the Democratic Party.”
“I’m asking you as leader, Kevin McCarthy’s House, why you made these choices?” Brennan responded. “These were your choices.”
“Yeah they’re my choices, but they’re the conference choices. But I’m also asking you, when you look to see just Republicans, Democrats have done the same thing,” McCarthy said. “So maybe it’s not denying. Maybe it’s the only opportunity they have to have a question about what went on during the election. So if you want to hold Republicans to that equation, why don’t you also hold Democrats?
“Why don’t you hold Jamie Raskin? Why don’t you hold Bennie Thompson, when Democrats had appointed them to be chair? I never once heard you ask Nancy Pelosi or any Democrat that question when they were in power in the majority, when they questioned,” McCarthy continued.
.@SpeakerMcCarthy: "I never once heard you ask Nancy Pelosi or any Democrat that question, when they were in power in the majority."
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy schooled CBS's Margaret Brennan over her election denialism hypocrisy. pic.twitter.com/zXcYC0ibL2
— Media Research Center (@theMRC) January 30, 2023
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