A deal struck by far right members of the GOP House caucus and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) to provide him enough votes to become Speaker of the House remains largely hidden, its aspects still unknown to the general public, nearly two weeks after he was appointed to the role.
The way in which the American people have not been informed of the terms of the deal is problematic, the White House has said, adding that McCarthy and his Republican allies ought to release those details in the interest of transparency, especially with voters.
It took 15 ballots for McCarthy to become speaker earlier this month — the first time multiple ballots were required to elect someone to that role in 100 years. Although Republicans have a majority in the House, around 20 Republicans refused to support McCarthy, who was chosen as GOP leader prior to the vote, unless he agreed to concessions on a number of issues.
Some aspects of the deal McCarthy made with those Republicans have likely come to light — a promise to hold a floor vote on a contentious tax proposal called the Fair Tax Act (which would eliminate the IRS, end income taxes and impose a 23 percent regressive federal sales tax) appears to be one part of the deal, for example. Promises to try to impose cuts on Social Security and Medicare, and to enforce strict rules in order to raise the debt ceiling, appear to be another part of what McCarthy has agreed to. The deal also likely included the restrictive abortion provisions that were incorporated in the House rules package that passed last week.
But McCarthy and the GOP caucus have been mum on what else the deal might include. McCarthy, responding to Politico over questions about the deal, refuses to acknowledge that such a deal between him and the far right members of his caucus even exists.
“There’s not a side deal to anything,” he said.
Yet members of the far right bloc that initially obstructed his appointment to speaker say otherwise, telling Politico and many other publications that the deal is real. According to Punchbowl News, for example, McCarthy and the far right legislators agreed to a “secret three-page addendum” in order for him to secure enough votes for the speakership.
In a statement he gave earlier this week, Deputy White House Press Secretary Andrew Bates said that McCarthy and the GOP ought to be forthcoming about the deal, noting that many in the Republican Party have been critical of the Biden administration for supposedly not being transparent on other issues.
“An unprecedented tax hike on the middle class and a national abortion ban are just a glimpse of the secret, backroom deals Speaker McCarthy made with extreme MAGA members to end this month’s chaotic elections and claim the gavel,” Bates said in his statement. “The few agreements we know about would fundamentally reshape our economy in a devastating way for working families and criminalize women for making their own health care decisions.”
“What other hidden bargains did Speaker McCarthy make behind closed doors with the most extreme, ultra MAGA members of the House Republican conference?” Bates added. “The American people have a right to know — now — which is why we are calling on him to make every single one of them public immediately.”
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
Last week, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment. We are presently looking for 231 new monthly donors in the next 2 days.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy