House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy appears in position to be the next majority leader, as Rep. Pete Sessions dropped out of the running late Thursday after Mr. McCarthy locked up strong support from top Republicans.
A day after Rep. Eric Cantor announced he would cede the leader’s post, following his Tuesday primary election defeat to a tea party challenger, rank-and-file Republicans had debated whether either Mr. McCarthy or Mr. Sessions were conservative enough to lead the GOP.
In a statement Thursday evening, Mr. Sessions said he would not run so as to avoid a divisive intra-party fight that he could not win.
“Today, it became obvious to me that the measures necessary to run a successful campaign would have created unnecessary and painful division within our party. At this critical time, we must remain unified as a Republican Conference,” he said.
But some lawmakers complained about the snap-timing of the election to replace Mr. Cantor, which will take place next Thursday, leaving little time for a conservative challenger to emerge.
“Unfortunately, while both current candidates benefit from the hasty time frame prescribed by leadership, neither opposes amnesty legislation being brought to the floor of the House,” Rep. Steve King, Iowa Republican, said Thursday even before Mr. Sessions had dropped out.
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Both Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Sessions worked the House floor trying to buttonhole colleagues in an attempt to shore up support. Mr. Sessions talked up Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina at one point as Mr. McCarthy exchanged handshakes with colleagues, including Rep. Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina.
“Kevin is not as conservative as I am, not as conservative as I want him to be, but I always felt like I had the chance to voice my opinions,” said Mr. Mulvaney, who is backing Mr. McCarthy.
Mr. Mulvaney said Mr. McCarthy’s staff is easier to work with than Mr. Cantor’s, and was already analyzing how a Majority Leader McCarthy might operate.
“Maybe Kevin, having been the No. 3 guy, was on the outs sometimes [on] the policy discussions, maybe he’ll be more inclusive, maybe he’ll decide now that he’s No. 2 he likes that sort of exclusive position — I don’t know,” Mr. Mulvaney said. “But I would think that generally speaking there might be more open discussion about policy.”
Mr. Cantor’s election defeat set off an instant scramble ahead of next Thursday’s vote. But less than 24 hours later, the race had crystalized.
Some conservatives had been hoping for Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas to contend for majority leader, but he bowed out of the race Thursday morning. Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, who has an eye on becoming the next Budget Committee chairman, also decided against a run.
Mr. Cantor will keep the leader’s post until July 31, which means it appears Mr. McCarthy will be waiting in the wings for some time — and makes the quick election all the more curious.
As the current whip, Mr. McCarthy’s job is to build support for GOP priorities and to count the votes. Mr. Sessions, meanwhile, is the Rules Committee chairman.
The whip’s slot now appears as if it will be open, and three members have announced plans to run: Reps. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Marlin Stutzman of Indiana, and Peter Roskam of Illinois.
In the leader’s race, Mr. McCarthy had sewn up the support of Mr. Cantor, Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma.
“I think he’s very respected politically,” Mr. Cole said. “He’s an impossible guy not to like personally, so I think he’s an exceptional candidate. He tends to be a unifier, not a divider, so again, he’ll work with the conference.”
For his part, Speaker John A. Boehner on Thursday declined to publicly back a candidate to be his next No. 2.
“Listen, I’ve worked with all 434 other members of Congress before. I can work with whoever gets elected,” said Mr. Boehner, Ohio Republican.
Rep. Devin Nunes of California, who is backing Mr. McCarthy, said he’s “close friends” with Mr. Sessions, but that Mr. McCarthy has been his neighbor for 25 years.
Mr. Nunes also decried what he called “exotic members” of the House who complain about not having “conservatives” in leadership, but not putting up their own candidates.
“They’re not happy with Scalise, they’re not happy with Roskam, they’re not happy with McCarthy, they’re not happy with Cantor, they’re not happy with Boehner, they’re not happy with Sessions, so I don’t know who their candidates are,” Mr. Nunes said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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