Rep.-elect Ogles among House Republicans opposing McCarthy speakership

U.S. Rep.-elect Andy Ogles of Columbia is among nine House Republicans expressing opposition to Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s ascent to the speakership.

“The times call for radical departure from the status quo — not a continuation of past, and ongoing, Republican failures,” according to the letter signed by Ogles. “For someone with 14-year presence in senior House Republican leadership, Mr. McCarthy bears squarely the burden to correct the dysfunction he now explicitly admits across that long tenure. “

McCarthy headlined a fundraiser for Ogles in Tennessee during a general election campaign in which the former Maury County mayor struggled to raised money.

Here’s the text of the letter dated Jan. 1:

Late in the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, Kevin McCarthy gave his first comprehensive written response to proposals offered in good faith on December 8 to articulate key values we believe must be championed — and led — by any candidate for Speaker of the House.

Mr. McCarthy’s title, “Restoring the People’s House and Ending Business as Usual,” is a welcome and telling admission of the longstanding and deep dysfunction of the House of Representatives and statement of aspiration to begin to set it right in the 118th Congress. Regrettably, however, despite some progress achieved, Mr. McCarthy’s statement comes almost impossibly late to address continued deficiencies ahead of the opening of the 118th Congress on January 3rd.

At this stage, it cannot be a surprise that expressions of vague hopes reflected in far too many of the crucial point still under debate are insufficient. This is especially true with respect to Mr. McCarthy’s candidacy for speaker because the times call for radical departure from the status quo — not a continuation of past, and ongoing, Republican failures. For someone with a 14-year presence in senior House Republican leadership, Mr. McCarthy bears squarely the burden to correct the dysfunction he now explicitly admits across that long tenure.

Thus far, there continue to be missing specific commitments with respect to virtually every component of our entreaties, and thus, no means to measure whether promisses are kept or broken. Moreover, some in the Republican conference have expressed that absent universal support for Mr. McCarthy, they would reject even the progress made to date regarding rules and changes to bill text availability, single subject and germaneness requirements, and other structural changes for the good of the body and every member. Mr. McCarthy’s statement also continues to propose to restrict the availability of the traditional motion to vacate the chair a a means of holding leadership accountable to its promises; ,we have from the beginning made clear that we will not accept following Nancy Pelosi’s example by insulating leadership in this way. We also note that the statement fails completely to address the issue of leadership working to defeat conservatives in open primaries.

The progress made thus far has been helpful and should guide our thinking going forward.

Respectfully,

Rep. Scott Perry, PA

Rep. Paul Gosar, AZ

Rep.-elect Andy Ogles, TN

Rep.-elect Anna Paulina Luna, FL

Rep.-elect Eli Crane, AZ

Rep. Chip Roy, TX

Rep. Dan Bishop, NC

Rep. Andy Harris, MD

Rep. Andrew Clyde, GA