McCarthy's camp 'frantically reaching out' to Dems in behind-the-scenes effort to halt ouster: reporter

It has only been a few hours since Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced to a bank of cameras that he didn't intend to make a deal with Democrats. It seems he's had second thoughts.

He explained that, as a conservative, he's not certain what he could offer Democrats in return.

But Politico reporter Meredith Lee Hill tweeted that, behind the scenes, McCarthy's "rank and file" are doing what he said he'd never do. They're "frantically reaching out" to Democrats to see what they want in exchange for not killing McCarthy's Speaker career.

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Cable news has discussed McCarthy bringing both parties together for a power-sharing deal, but that could lose further GOP support.

House Progressive Caucus chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-MN) told Politico's Kyle Griffin, "We are not saving Kevin McCarthy. ... Nobody trusts Kevin McCarthy, and why should we?"

It took 15 votes for Kevin McCarthy to get the support he needed to approve him as the speaker early this year. If he makes a deal with Democrats and it ultimately fails, it's unclear if Republicans would wash their hands with McCarthy entirely.

Rep. John Larson (D-CT) told Raw Story that the Democrats in the so-called "problem solvers caucus" are against McCarthy. He also noted that no one has reached out to him to talk about any deal or even work together on some like-minded issues.

"Maybe he'll change now, who knows, but I think from everything I've heard and listened to this morning people are angry with the way he's conducted himself," said Larson. "So, I think it comes down to can he, if there's only a handful, can he actually convince them that this is — what is this going to prove for them? And how unified is their caucus then?"

Raw Story asked if Larson sees McCarthy as nothing more than an extension of Trump, but he said, more important, is that McCarthy "hasn't kept his word on just about everything."

He sees everything McCarthy has done thus far is to "appease MAGA Republicans, who are the ones that are leading the ousting of him. So, to me, it's their internal squabble and of their own making."

"Institutionally, he's shown a real disregard, even as something — serving on the Ways and Means Committee. What does Ways and Means have to do with impeachment? And so, you kind of use a committee chair to carry out what everyone — even when their own witnesses say there's no there there. So, he's let the institution, and especially the care and concern about the institution doesn't seem to bother him much. It's a problem of his own making. I think there was ample opportunity and certainly ample enough legislation to reach out for and get people united."