How McCarthy got his poisoned chalice
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The problem was, needless to say, not any principle but that Gaetz et. al wanted to be able to dissemble to supporters they sold themselves as never-McCarthy to:
But as the clerk started to call the roll, there was a problem. Rep. MATT GAETZ (R-Fla.) approached McCarthy’s top floor lieutenant, JOHN LEGANSKI, and told him they needed to adjourn the House. The six McCarthy holdouts had discussed a plan to back the GOP leader by voting “present” in tandem so none of them could be fingered as the final vote giving McCarthy the gavel — but Gaetz didn’t have the entire group sold at that moment.
If they waited until Monday, Gaetz said, he could probably deliver.
That wasn’t an option, Leganski told him. There was no guarantee all 222 Republicans would be in attendance Monday, with several members dealing with family emergencies. The wife of Rep. ROGER WILLIAMS (R-Texas) was undergoing treatment for a newly discovered brain tumor, and Rep. WESLEY HUNT (R-Texas) had left his wife’s bedside to fly back for the expected final vote. She has struggled with medical issues, Hunt said Friday, after giving premature birth to a baby boy.
Gaetz went back to his seat, but he wasn’t about to deliver McCarthy the deciding vote for the gavel. Just days before, he had suggested he’d rather be waterboarded. So he voted “present” — leaving McCarthy just short of a majority on the 14th ballot.
McCarthy made a beeline for Gaetz. “Matt, come on,” he told him, according to a person present. “You’ve made your point. People have to go home.” Gaetz replied this wouldn’t be happening if they’d adjourned as he’d suggested.
What finally convinced a critical mass was Daddy Trump telling them that a man in his position could no longer afford to be made to look ridiculous:
Trump angrily told the group to knock it off, according to a person familiar with the conversations, arguing that the televised mayhem was making him look bad. “He ripped them a new asshole,” the person said.
Amid the full-court press, the holdouts ping-ponged between huddles before finally agreeing that McCarthy would ultimately get the gavel one way or another and that they should let fate take its course.
Gaetz, who had already voted to adjourn until Monday, walked to the clerk’s desk at 11:31 and pulled a red slip to change his vote. He found McCarthy and told him the group would clear the way for him to get the gavel.
The bad news for McCarthy is that this is less likely to work on issues where the outcome isn’t already a foregone conclusion.