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POLITICO Playbook: Could McCarthy face a Cheney backlash?

By RACHAEL BADE, EUGENE DANIELS, TARA PALMERI and RYAN LIZZA 05/11/2021 06:16 AM EDT
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2021/05/11/could-mccarthy-face-a-cheney-backlash-492797

GRUMBLING WITH MCCARTHY BEHIND THE SCENES —

Taking out Cheney (R-Wyo.) as conference chair was never going to be clean and easy for McCarthy. And this week, we’re starting to pick up on a bit of backlash against the minority leader behind the scenes. Some House Republicans are privately griping about how the California Republican has fed a colleague to the MAGA wolves in his quest to become speaker.

And no, we’re not just hearing this from ADAM KINZINGER types.

McCarthy has sought to cast doubt on Cheney’s leadership ability, arguing that it is essentially selfish to call out Trump instead of prioritizing GOP unity. But other House Republicans question his own leadership qualities.

One of them — a Republican long seen as an ally of leadership — told us Monday night he may oppose McCarthy for speaker because of all the recent drama. This person accused McCarthy of having no moral compass as he moves to punish Cheney while allowing members like Reps. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) and MATT GAETZ (R-Fla.) to run wild.

“Kevin McCarthy has pissed off enough members of his own conference that he’s going to have to go back to his former days as a whip to try to figure out where his votes are” to become speaker, said the member, who is neither a member of the Freedom Caucus nor a moderate. “I’d be worried if I was him. … You have people like me — who are here to do the right thing for all the right reasons and have an expectation of leadership — that are, shall we say, disgusted with the internal squabbling that results from having weak leadership. And it is weak leadership. Straight up.”

A senior GOP aide to a conservative member put it this way: “He’s flip-flopped on [Jan. 6 and whether it’s] Trump’s fault, it’s not Trump’s fault. … It seems like he doesn’t have the backbone to lead. He bends to political pressure. It’s tough to do when you’re speaker. You have to lead.”

On the other end of the ideological spectrum, a group of conservatives feel like they’ve been boxed in with Rep. ELISE STEFANIK (R-N.Y.), as McCarthy moved to lock her in as Cheney’s replacement. McCarthy’s move to clear the field when others wanted to run for the job has upset some on the right, though Stefanik’s announcement that she would only serve for one term has assuaged some of these concerns.

McCarthy’s move against Cheney has arguably helped his standing with Trump, who was angered by the GOP leader’s initial decision to stand by her. But the former president is still lukewarm on McCarthy, we’re told, and loyalty with Trump often runs only one way.

Of course, the midterms are a long ways away, and helping to lead Republicans back to the House majority could go a long way with his critics. But while Cheney is the one getting canned this week, McCarthy won’t come out unscathed, either.

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2021/05/11/could-mccarthy-face-a-cheney-backlash-492797