Far-right House GOPers putting Kevin McCarthy in a corner if he wants to be speaker

According to a report from Politico, current House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) still has not rounded up the votes he needs to become the new House Speaker and now foes within his own party are making new demands if he wants them to change their minds.

As Politico's Jordain Carney is reporting, the far-right members of the House are now demanding he agree to a select committee that will have wide latitude to investigate an extensive range of complaints they have with President Joe Biden, the FBI and Biden administration officials.

As the House select committee investigating Donald Trump and his connection to the Jan. 6 insurrection comes to a close, pro-Trump members of the GOP House caucus want the freedom to retaliate and they want McCarthy to give them free rein to launch investigations -- in return for their speakership votes .

According to Carney, "While the Republican leader and soon-to-be committee chairs have already lined up a laundry list of investigations that will largely command the House GOP’s agenda next year, it’s not enough for some McCarthy critics. Some of those opposing and on the fence about the Californian’s speakership bid want him to start a new panel, one that could direct probes against the entities they’ve castigated for years, including the FBI, theJustice Department, theIRS and Anthony Fauci."

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That, in turn, is setting off a battle among House Republicans who worry about both overlap and overkill.

As the report notes, new committee chairs Jim Jordan (R-OH) and James Comer (R-KY) have already made clear what they plan to target when the GOP takes official control of the House and they don't want a select committee stepping on their toes.

The report notes that Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) has been pressing the case with the GOP leader, with Politico reporting, "he and other conservatives are pitching the select committee as a way to coordinate the conference’s investigative plans under one roof. They aren’t naming names on who they believe should lead the panel, though at least one skeptical McCarthy ally has argued that, if it has to happen, it should be Jordan."

Pointing out for McCarthy it is "hardly the first time he’s faced pressure from his right flank to acquiesce to going further on investigations," the report adds, "McCarthy, notably, didn’t specifically mention setting up a new committee, and those comments would also align with previously planned investigations. The ambiguous comments come as the Californian tries to lock down the votes to claim the speaker’s gavel in a thin majority and wants to avoid alienating any more members. A spokesperson for the GOP leader didn’t respond to multiple questions about whether McCarthy was endorsing starting a new panel, or just an investigation into the Justice Department and FBI, which is already in the works."

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