WASHINGTON — Texas Republicans helped elect U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as House speaker in the early hours of the morning Saturday after four days of bitter infighting within their party that kept Congress at a historic standstill.
Texans played a central role in the intraparty dispute, with three Texas Republicans voting 11 times against McCarthy’s bid for speaker, expressing discontent with how party leaders have run the House Republican conference. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, emerged as a lead dissenter, issuing impassioned pleas for a complete shake-up of House rules that he said would keep leadership more accountable. U.S. Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Victoria, and U.S. Rep.-elect Keith Self, R-McKinney, had similar concerns and voted in line with Roy and a group that started at about 20 anti-McCarthy Republicans.
By Friday afternoon, they had reached an agreement with party leaders and voted for McCarthy in exchange for continued talks on how to reform the chamber. Roy was one of the top negotiators with McCarthy and his allies, and a wave of Republican objectors joined him when he switched his vote. By Friday afternoon, 15 members switched their votes to support McCarthy.
