Republican Virginia Rep. Bob Good ripped into House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy at a closed-door House Republican Conference meeting, two sources in the room told the Daily Caller.
The GOP “got rolled” during the 2022 midterms, Good told McCarthy, according to the two sources. Good, who was elected to his second term on Tuesday, also accused McCarthy of not calling him in 2020 after he successfully primaried sitting Republican Rep. Denver Riggleman. A member of the Freedom Caucus, Good has already said that he is unlikely to support a McCarthy speakership.
“Kevin McCarthy has not done anything to earn my vote for speaker,” Good said Wednesday. (RELATED: ‘Not So Fast’: Rep. Andy Biggs Questions If McCarthy Should Be Speaker After Midterm Letdown)
United States Representative Bob Good (Republican of Virginia) questions Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young during a House Committee on the Budget hearing The Presidents Fiscal Year 2023 Budget in the Canon House Office Building in Washington, DC, Tuesday, March 29, 2022. Credit: Rod Lamkey / Pool via CNP
Good also blamed the Congressional Leadership Fund for “spending money on candidates against the will of the people,” one source told the Caller. The Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), which is aligned with McCarthy, raised more than $244 million and spent more than $186 million during the midterms, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Notably, CLF spent $1.8 million to support Good in 2020, according to FEC records. He won that race against Democrat Cameron Webb by five points.
Republican Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs is reportedly considering challenging McCarthy for Speaker of the House. The GOP is scheduled to vote for the top position on Tuesday, although many members have called for leadership elections to be delayed. Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz called for the elections to be delayed during the conference meeting, the sources said. Although McCarthy declined to delay leadership votes, he did promise not to use Democratic votes to ascend to the speakership, the sources, added.
Unlike other leadership votes, which require a simple majority of party members, the Speaker of the House must win a full chamber vote.
Although McCarthy and those closest to him promised a “red wave” election, Republicans failed to knock off vulnerable Democrats like Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin and Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger. Republicans have won or currently lead in 222 districts, and Democrats won or lead in 213. Nineteen races have not yet been called, according to the New York Times.
Freedom Caucus members like Good have threatened to withhold support from McCarthy unless the GOP changes House rules that the caucus believes give too much power to the Speaker. Most notably, they are demanding that the House reinstate the motion to vacate the chair, which allows any member to request a vote to remove the Speaker. Nancy Pelosi eliminated the motion after Democrats took back the lower chamber in 2018.
McCarthy has suggested that he will not reinstate the motion, although not doing so may cost him the speakership.
“I personally don’t take well to leveraging,” he told Punchbowl News in October.