Kevin McCarthy, already a sell-out before he's even Speaker.
Five out of eight Republican House members
voted to shut down government over women's health care on Wednesday. Just 91 of them voted with Democrats and, in the words of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, "[o]ne-hundred and fifty one Republicans decided their obsession with women's health was more important than the thousands of disabled veterans, disadvantaged children and working families who would pay the price of another government shutdown." That vote, and how candidates for leadership voted, doesn't bode well for the future of the Republican conference and a functioning Congress.
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, who is the favorite to succeed Boehner as speaker, voted for the bill, along with Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who wants to be the majority leader, and Chief Deputy Whip Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina, who wants to be whip. Rep. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, who is also said to be eyeing a bid for whip, voted "yes" as well.
Those who voted "no" included Budget Chairman Tom Price of Georgia, who is running for majority leader, and Rules Chairman Pete Sessions of Texas, who also running for whip. Rep. Dennis A. Ross of Florida might also be running for whip, and he, too, voted against the CR.
Have fun with that, future speaker McCarthy. He's a sell-out before he even gets the post. He's also going to be in opposition to this with potential members of his leadership team. Unless outgoing Speaker John Boehner manages to do what looks to be pretty much impossible at the moment, and
negotiate a real budget with Democrats, President Obama, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell before he leaves at the end of this month, the shutdown fight is just postponed until mid-December when this stop-gap bill expires.
It might also be worth mentioning here that would-be President Marco Rubio, the absentee senator, didn't bother to show up to keep the government operating.