McCarthy Has Moderates Play Bad Cop

Washington Post: “At its weekly lunch, the Republican Governance Group, which includes nearly 50 members, agreed to oppose any House rules package that includes a motion to vacate, according to a member who participated in the discussion and spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private talks. Their opposition would easily doom any attempt by the right to force McCarthy’s hand.”

Playbook: “But the backstory of the moderates’ flex, and especially the McCarthy camp’s quiet encouragement of their opposition — reported here for the first time — provides a rare window into the strategy McCarthy will employ to try to get the gavel, and also how he will likely govern if he does.”

“By using moderates as a critical tool for countering conservatives, McCarthy appears to be carefully positioning himself to say to his right flank: Sorry, your own colleagues won’t support such a demand. Having them play ‘bad cop’ on anything from the motion to vacate to, possibly, a future debt ceiling showdown, for example, could set McCarthy up to be seen as the ‘good cop’ — a reasonable dealmaker trying to find a path forward between warring factions.”