‘Why the hell are we doing this?’ McCarthy’s fractured leadership team faces new abortion tension

[Daily Kos Morning Roundup]( A morning roundup of worthy pundit and news reads, brought to you by Daily Kos. [Click here to read the full web version.]( - [‘Why the hell are we doing this?’ McCarthy’s fractured leadership team faces new abortion tension]( ‘Why the hell are we doing this?’ McCarthy’s fractured leadership team faces new abortion tension, Olivia Beavers and Sarah Ferris, POLITICO As the speaker and his majority leader trade barbs over why conservatives have paralyzed the floor, they’re confronting a brushfire among House GOP centrists. As conservatives continue to snarl the House floor in protest, centrists are taking their turn to squeeze Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Behind closed doors on Wednesday, McCarthy’s No. 2 and No. 3 briefed about a dozen Republicans — mostly battleground-seat members — on their plan to take up two bills next week: Rep. Andrew Clyde’s (R-Ga.) bid to nix a Biden administration gun regulation and a separate proposal bill to strengthen limits on taxpayer funding for abortion. - [Nazi cavorting anti-vaxxer, and now candidate for president, RFK Jr., is suing Daily Kos for protecting our community. The legal fees are piling up, you can donate $3 here to help us fight back?]( - [Pence gets in, Trump gets pinned]( Pence gets in, Trump gets pinned, Ryan Lizza, Eugene Daniels and Rachael Bade, POLITICO QUOTE HEARD ROUND THE WORLD — MIKE PENCE in Ankeny, Iowa, yesterday, making it official with this grave warning about his former boss, DONALD TRUMP: “I believe that anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States, and anyone who asks someone else to put them over the Constitution should never be president of the United States again.” How much is Pence leaning into the fact that he did the right thing on Jan. 6? The media wifi password for the event was “KeptHisOath!” Adam Wren, our resident Pence-ologist, breaks down the ex-veep’s chances: “Why Mike Pence thinks he has a prayer in 2024.” But, but, but: Despite saying Trump should “never be president” again, in a post-speech interview with Fox News, Pence said he would abide by the RNC requirement that all candidates pledge to support the eventual nominee. - [House heads home after hard-right Republicans defy McCarthy, block legislation]( House heads home after hard-right Republicans defy McCarthy, block legislation, Amy B Wang, Marianna Sotomayor, Leigh Ann Caldwell and Paul Kane, The Washington Post The House adjourned until Monday after a standoff between leaders and conservative lawmakers Just past 6 p.m. Wednesday, after GOP leaders gave up on resolving the impasse this week and canceled the remaining votes for the week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) addressed reporters and explained that part of the ongoing frustration is the hard-line faction’s inability to articulate their demands. “This is the difficult thing,” he said. “Some of these members, they don’t know what to ask for.” - [Daily Kos hats are here just in time for summer. Click here to get yours.]( - [What I'm Watching Moving Forward, McCarthy's Dilemma, the Demise of AM Radio, CNN, and more notes]( What I'm Watching Moving Forward, McCarthy's Dilemma, the Demise of AM Radio, CNN, and more notes, Brian Rosenwald, ”The World According to Brian” on Substack Those could range from looking to do something on paid leave to seeing if there is finally ground for a bipartisan deal on immigration (which seems unlikely, given that Republican primary voters won’t countenance any compromise on the issue) or taxes, to thinking creativity about how he can arm his members in Biden-won districts with a list of accomplishments and to show voters in other swing districts, “see, Republican governance isn’t so scary.” But that strategy has its own twin downsides: first, it risks the obstreperous wing of McCarthy’s caucus trying to depose him. Even if they don’t, it would make it very difficult to do anything on a partisan basis, because they could block rules and prevent votes on anything where McCarthy didn’t have Democratic support. Based on the way McCarthy has behaved in the past, it seems most likely that he’ll look to appease the far right faction. He understands that revolts from the right undermined his two Republican predecessors, and seems determined not to lose the right wing. But especially as 2023 progresses, he will face some degree of pressure from his most moderate members to set them up for tough campaigns with a list of accomplishments. While the most moderate factions in the GOP have never mastered the politics of hardball, with a four seat margin, it gives them a little more leverage, especially if they can find allies in the Senate to push for attaching stuff to must pass legislation — the Farm Bill, the appropriations bills, the annual Defense Authorization Act, etc. Additionally, if McCarthy makes real concessions to the far right after their stunt this week, he risks other members of his caucus, including the Biden district Republicans, also threatening rules to get votes on what they want. ICYMI: Popular stories from the past week you won't want to miss: - [Trump has lost it]( - [Trump meltdown continues]( - [Chris Christie's epic Trump takedown even more glorious than expected]( Want even more Daily Kos? Check out our podcasts: - [The Brief: A one-hour weekly political conversation hosted by Markos Moulitsas and Kerry Eleveld]( - [The Downballot: Daily Kos' podcast devoted to downballot elections. 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