Tom Cole Says McCarthy’s Spending Deal Is Void

“With Kevin McCarthy out as speaker, House Rules Chair Tom Cole says Republicans are free to step back from the deep appropriations cuts dictated by McCarthy’s backroom deal with the far right last June,” Politico reports.

Said Cole: “This agreement was faulty from the beginning. It’s changed over time, and now in a sense, it doesn’t exist at all because McCarthy isn’t the speaker anymore. So we’re not really bound by this agreement now.”

“Cole’s comments are striking because of his stature in the House … The Oklahoma Republican is also vice chair of the funding panel, the second-highest-ranking appropriations post. The fact that he should speak out so directly now could embolden GOP centrists to do the same in the party fight now over who will be the next speaker.”