Punchbowl News: “Kevin McCarthy just hurled a wrench into the speaker race, teasing that he’s open to serving in the chamber’s top job once again. This isn’t a huge surprise as we previewed it last week. Plus, moderates have been telling us not to count McCarthy out.”
“But McCarthy is now publicly saying that it’s up to the conference to decide whether he should return to the speaker’s chair.”
“It’s not quite a three-way race between House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan and McCarthy. But McCarthy left his supporters plenty of room to hold off on backing Scalise or Jordan and hope for the California Republican’s return.”
Key takeaway: “Part of this McCarthy boomlet – spurred on by McCarthy himself and some of his dissatisfied and angry allies – is due to discontent from House GOP lawmakers over the choice of Scalise and Jordan. Moderates don’t like their options.”
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