Kevin McCarthy unveils House GOP's big ideas midterm election agenda
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy unveiled the Republican Party's midterm election agenda in Pennsylvania Friday, confronting President Biden and the party in power.
McCarthy, who is poised to seize the speaker's gavel if Republicans win control of the House in the fall, hopes to replicate the strategy former Speaker Newt Gingrich used to spark voter enthusiasm and sweep House control in a 1994 landslide.
"I want to win the majority so we can have a new plan and implement it," McCarthy told CBS News congressional correspondent Nikole Killion, deferring a question about his political future. "They'll make that decision after the election and whichever way it goes from that standpoint, it'll happen."
"So, if you're like everybody else we hear, whether you can afford it, whether you feel safe, the challenge of your children getting lost behind, or a government that's run amuck," McCarthy told his enthusiastic audience. "Who has a plan to change that course? We do. The Democrats have no plan for the problem they created."
The House GOP's "Commitment to America" gives a nod to that earlier era but updates it for Trump, with economic, border security and social policies to rouse the former president's deep well of supporters in often-forgotten regions like this rusty landscape outside Pittsburgh.
"We want an economy that is strong," McCarthy said. "That means you can fill up your tank. You can buy the groceries. You have enough money left over to go to Disneyland and save for a future. That the paychecks grow, they no longer shrink. We have a plan for a nation that's safe. That means your community will be protected. Your law enforcement will be respected. Your criminals will be prosecuted. We believe in a future that's built on freedom. That your children come first. They're taught to dream big. And we believe in a check and balance — that government should be accountable."
On the first day of House GOP control, McCarthy vowed that Republicans would vote to nix 87,000 IRS agents, eliciting applause from the audience. After the passage of the climate, health care and tax law, which provides $80 billion in funding to the IRS to enable the agency to hire thousands of agents and modernize its systems, Republicans warned taxpayers that the IRS wants to hire "87,000 new IRS agents to audit Walmart shoppers." The Treasury Department says, however, that families with incomes under $400,000 "will likely see the chance of an audit decline."
The House Republican leader stood alongside other GOP lawmakers to roll out the GOP agenda, offering a portrait of party unity despite the uneasy coalition that makes up the House minority — and the Republican Party itself. Among those seated behind McCarthy Friday was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
Later on Friday, President Biden criticized McCarthy's plan, saying Republicans will cut social security and Medicaid.
"It's not hyperbole itself to say that democracy itself is on the ballot," the president said, adding, "we are really at an inflection point."
He characterized McCarthy's "commitment to America" as "a thin series of policy goals, with little or no detail that he says Republicans are gonna pursue if they regain control of the Congress."
The GOP has shifted from its focus on small government, low taxes and individual freedoms to a more populist, nationalist party, essentially still led by Donald Trump, who remains popular despite the deepening state and federal investigations against him.
Propelled by Trump's "Make America Great Again" voters, Republicans need to pick up just a few seats to win back control of the narrowly split House, and replace Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Even so, McCarthy's ability to lead the House is far from guaranteed.
"We want to compete everywhere from Rhode Island to Oregon, to California to Iowa and in between," McCarthy told Killion. "I think we have the best candidates you have ever found."
While Republicans and Trump did pass tax cuts into law, the GOP's last big campaign promise, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, collapsed in failure. A long line of Republican speakers, including Gingrich, John Boehner and Paul Ryan, have been forced from office or chose early retirement, often ground down by party infighting.
"House Republicans are really good at running people out of town," said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the Conservative Political Action Coalition, or CPAC.
McCarthy, first elected to office in 2006, is among the remaining political survivors of those House Republican battles. A key architect of the Republican "tea party" takeover in 2010, the California Republican personally recruited the newcomers to Congress — many who had never served in public office and are long gone. He was an early Trump endorser, and has remained close to the former president, relying on his high-profile endorsements to propel GOP candidates for Congress. He abandoned an earlier bid to become speaker when support from his colleagues drifted.
The "Commitment to America" reflects the strength of McCarthy's abilities, but also his weaknesses. He spent more than a year pulling together the House GOP's often warring factions — from the far-right MAGA to what's left of the more centrist ranks — to produce a mostly agreed upon agenda.
But the one-page "commitment" preamble is succinct, essentially a pocket card, though it is expected to be filled in with the kind of detail that is needed to make laws.
"They talk about a lot of problems," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland. "They don't have a lot of solutions."
In traveling to battleground Pennsylvania, a state where Mr. Biden holds emotional ties from his early childhood, McCarthy intends to counter the president's fiery Labor Day weekend speech, in which he warned of rising GOP extremism after the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, with a more upbeat message. The event is billed as a conversation with the GOP leader and lawmakers.
Along with many as five House seats Republicans believe they can pick up in Pennsylvania in November, the state has one of the most watched Senate races, between Democrat John Fetterman and Trump-backed Mehmet Oz, that will help determine control of Congress. Top of the ticket is the seismic governor's matchup between the GOP's Doug Mastriano, who was seen outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, and Democrat Josh Shapiro.
"If you are a hardline, populist, and you really want anger, Kevin's a little frustrating because he's not going to be angry enough for you," Gingrich said. "On the other hand, if what you want is to have your values implemented and passed in the legislation, he is a really good leader and organizer."
Gingrich has been working with McCarthy and his team to craft the style and substance of the proposal. The former speaker, who has been asked by the Jan. 6 committee investigating the Capitol attack for an interview, was on hand Thursday in Washington, joining McCarthy as he unveiled the plans privately to House Republicans, who have been mixed on the approach.
Mostly, the GOP pocket card hits broad strokes — energy independence, security and an end to liberal social policies, particularly in schooling.
Conservative Republicans complain privately that McCarthy isn't leaning hard enough into their priorities, as he tries to appeal to a broader swath of voters and hold the party together.
Many are eager to launch investigations into the Biden administration and the president's family, with some calling for impeachment.
"The one thing we know in the future is that we don't make political investigations," he told CBS News. "We actually let both sides be a part of it to get a real answer. Unfortunately with Jan. 6, it's only one-sided."
Legislatively, some House Republicans want to fulfill the party's commitment to banning abortion, supporting Sen. Lindsey Graham's bill prohibiting the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
In a sign of the pressures ahead for McCarthy, dozens of House GOP lawmakers signed on to plans from Trump-aligned Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to prevent many gender reassignment procedures for minors, celebrating the Georgian as courageous for taking such a hardline approach.
She and others were invited to join Friday's event, as McCarthy seeks their backing.
Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, has advocated for withholding federal funds as leverage for policy priorities, the tactic that engineered past government shutdowns.
"Putting out like, you know, principles about, 'Well, we'll secure the border.' I mean, okay, but what are we gonna do about it?" Roy said. "The end of the day, I want specific actionable items that's going to show that we're going to fight for the American people."
McCarthy alone has proposed a plan if Republicans win control of the House chamber. In the Senate, Republican leader Mitch McConnell has declined to put forward an agenda, preferring to simply run against Biden and Democrats in the midterm election.
"Kevin's done a very good job of being in position to become the speaker. And then the question is, what do you do with that? Schlapp said. "This helps as a road map."
Sara Cook contributed to this report.