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For those of us on the Right who have doubted Kevin McCarthy, it is time to unite and back his speakership, while holding him accountable to his promised agenda of aggressive conservative action.
Though I have been public and prolific in my prior criticisms of the House GOP leader, three compelling reasons now convince me to advocate for him.
First and foremost, McCarthy won. He earned it.
Republicans will reclaim the speaker's gavel from Nancy Pelosi thanks to the impressive campaign apparatus McCarthy built. In fact, during the last two election cycles, when Republicans added 14 and 9 House seats respectively, McCarthy led the efforts, from candidate recruitment to tireless campaigning to superior fundraising.
That last point is especially crucial, as some very high-quality Senate candidates, for example, lost because of gargantuan funding gaps with Democrats backed by big-money interests. But on the House side, McCarthy significantly out-raised Pelosi, by more than $80 million, in fact. Even those of us previously skeptical of McCarthy must recognize the hustle and organization of this massive success.
To the winners go the prizes, and McCarthy earned the top podium spot with this victory. Though he has recently been discussed in the same breath with Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell and RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, they did not win. McCarthy did.
Second, McCarthy has moved to the right. Before the midterms, he laid out an aggressive agenda that fully aligns with the populist and nationalist wings of our movement. For starters, he went to the U.S. border—something Joe Biden has never done as president—and announced hearings will commence there to showcase, to Democrats and to America, how Biden's untenable and reckless border fiasco threatens the very sovereignty of our country.
Moreover, in my conversations with Rep. McCarthy, he pledged as speaker to use every leverage point possible to confront Biden on the border crisis. He wants to force the administration to finally start fulfilling its very first duty of protecting public order.
McCarthy agrees that this issue must be the highest priority of the new House majority, given the economic and national security dangers presented by the more than 5 million illegal immigrants pouring into our country during Biden's first two years. Leader McCarthy promises to take the president to the mat on this existential crisis, including by defunding Biden's initiatives and risking a government shutdown if the White House refuses to perform its foundational duty of homeland protection.
In addition, McCarthy pledges to pursue other key conservative action items, such as removing Democratic charlatans Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from their seats on the House Intelligence Committee, and Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Putting conservative firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene back on committees—as McCarthy has also pledged to do—will jumpstart the aggressive investigative process into numerous ruling-class abuses, from Big Tech censorship to the politicization of the intelligence community. The members of the small "never Kevin" GOP group should recognize this agenda as thoroughly "America First."
Finally, electing a new House speaker is an urgent necessity. Avoiding a chaotic and possibly prolonged fight makes sense for the GOP, and the country. Americans handed a mandate to the House GOP and our fellow citizens badly need help. Spirits sag across our country, with consumer confidence recently hitting a post-WWII low as crushing inflation and languishing economic growth put working Americans in a bind. Millions can only cope for so long through an explosion in risky credit card balances, which are surging at the highest pace in two decades.
In such an environment of anxiety—caused by the repeated crises of the Biden administration—a public intra-Republican food fight over the speakership will quickly sap the confidence of voters who just pivoted to a new course, demanding action and competence.
Moreover, no credible alternative candidate exists. Representative Andy Biggs is a force on the Right, to be sure. But Biggs' paltry vote share in the Republican member tally shows that no Freedom Caucus type can at present garner the necessary support of moderate GOP members.
By its own rules, the House cannot commence any work without selecting a speaker. So it is imperative that the GOP unite behind McCarthy, and then hold him accountable every single day.
In a newly divided Washington power structure, control of the House will serve as a sorely needed policy lever to reclaim our republic from Biden and Chuck Schumer's radical madness. Despite my past critiques, I am convinced that Kevin McCarthy will become the bold leader we need, and will act as a political tourniquet to stop the bleeding, especially at the border. Then, Republicans will prepare for a big 2024, aiming for significant Senate flips and the return of an America-first president to the Oval Office.
Steve Cortes is a former adviser to President Donald Trump.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
