In a surprising turn of events, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California was removed from his position as Speaker of the House last Tuesday.
Prior to this, Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, a seasoned GOP lawmaker and chairman of the House Rules Committee, had publicly endorsed McCarthy's leadership, dismissing the demands of conservative hardliners to remove him from his position.
"The overwhelming majority of my party supports the speaker that we elected. We're proud of the leadership he's shown," Cole had stated. He further criticized a small faction within the party, accusing them of creating chaos and uncertainty for reasons only they understood.
Despite Cole's support, the House voted 216-210 to remove McCarthy from the speakership, with eight Republicans joining 208 Democrats in backing a motion to vacate the chair. This move continues to vex Cole, who recently expressed his frustration to The Atlantic, stating that the conservative hardliners "just took out our best player" as the GOP prepares to defend its slim 221-212 House majority in the upcoming presidential election year.
Cole warned that McCarthy's removal could "very easily" jeopardize the House majority that the GOP worked diligently to secure last year after losing it in the 2018 midterms. "We put sharp knives in the hands of children, and they used them," Cole said, referring to the hardliners who successfully pushed for McCarthy's removal. "I think these guys materially hurt our chances to hold the majority," he added.
As a former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Cole shared with The Atlantic that McCarthy had persuaded many strong candidates to participate in competitive races in 2020 and 2022. "This is going to cost us candidates," Cole warned, criticizing the votes of the eight dissenting GOP lawmakers. "They just messed up the House," he said, noting their lack of an exit plan, alternative strategy, or candidate.
While some have proposed Cole as a potential unifying candidate for the House GOP conference, he dismissed the likelihood of him becoming speaker as "very low, and if I have anything to say about it, zero." Currently, Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio are the leading candidates to succeed McCarthy as speaker.
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