Mitch McConnell is not wading into the House speaker’s race. He does have one piece of advice, though.
“I hope whoever the next speaker is gets rid of the motion to vacate,” the minority leader said Wednesday afternoon. He added that it makes the job “impossible.”
The current House rules allow a single member to force a referendum on the speaker, which is precisely how Kevin McCarthy lost the speakership. And McConnell has a vested interest in that not happening again: He spent plenty of time building a relationship with McCarthy.
McConnell praised McCarthy for avoiding a government shutdown and debt default, saying the ousted speaker should be proud of his term. And now McConnell has to get to know a fourth GOP speaker in his time as Senate Republican leader.
As if to verbally underline his point, McConnell repeated his House counsel: “I hope whoever emerges insists on getting rid of the motion to vacate.”
