Who are the Republicans still voting against his bid for speaker, and what do they want?
And then there were six.
Kevin McCarthy made significant headway toward his long-sought goal of becoming speaker of the House on Friday afternoon. But even with 15 Republicans flipping to support him and bringing him closer to winning over a majority of the House, McCarthy remains a handful of votes shy. And while it’s nice to demonstrate momentum, getting over the line could be difficult given how dug-in some of the holdouts are.
Perhaps the best news for McCarthy on Friday was that he persuaded one particularly dug-in holdout: Republican Ralph Norman (S.C.), who once described himself as a “hard no” and said, “I’m not going to support Kevin McCarthy.” Norman had been one of five Republicans who telegraphed a hard line against McCarthy. McCarthy can likely lose only four votes from the GOP conference.
So who does he need to convince now?
Below is a rundown of the six holdouts — what they have said, where they come from and what they’re asking for. Reminder: McCarthy probably needs two of them, subject to absences (with the whole process explained in more detail here).
The 3 hard nos: Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Bob Good (R-Va.)
If McCarthy flips any of these, he will in all likelihood become speaker.
