WASHINGTON — A major opponent of Kevin McCarthy nearly missed his chance to vote against the California Republican for Speaker of the House because he was speaking on television.
Representative. Rep. Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) was interviewed live on Fox News on a camera just outside the House chamber as the House wrapped up its seventh vote on who should lead the agency. Journalists noticed Perry’s colleagues try to get his attention.
“Scott, you’re going to lose the vote,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) SAPS.
Inside the chamber, the chancellor called on all non-voting members to go to the “well” on the floor of the chamber to do so. Perry entered the room, took the podium and was told that he had not been recorded. He then cast his vote for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.).
“I was talking to people and I was late, that’s all,” Perry told HuffPost. “Have you ever been late for anything?”
He added that speaking on television was helpful because the American people “deserve to know what’s going on.”
As of Thursday afternoon, the House had nine votes for speaker, and McCarthy fell short of a majority each time. It wouldn’t have affected the outcome if Perry had missed the vote, but there was so little variation from poll to poll that lawmakers took even small changes as signals of one side or the other gaining momentum. When Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) started voting “present” on Wednesday, for example, after voting for McCarthy on Tuesday, it was a big deal.
Over the course of three days, members moved in and out of the room more and more as the clerk called out their names in alphabetical order. Perry and other McCarthy opponents in particular have crowded into chambers around the Capitol as McCarthy tries to win them over.
Perry, the chairman of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, has led the opposition to McCarthy, portraying him as a Washington swamp creature who will stop at nothing to stand up to Democrats and cut wasteful government spending. (Perry was also deeply involved in former President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election.)
However, Perry and his colleagues do not have an alternative candidate who can garner much support among Republicans and have reportedly resisted McCarthy’s bids to change House rules to empower senior lawmakers. The confrontation has no end in sight.
But there’s one thing Perry and his gang have certainly gotten away with so far: lots of attention and TV time.
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