Slow down...
Meet ‘the five families’ that wield power in McCarthy’s House majority
"It all started with a meeting that then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) convened after the midterm elections. He wanted to discuss how a razor-thin Republican majority would operate — and whether he still had a pathway to lead the fractious Republican conference and become speaker of the House.
As lawmakers streamed out of the leadership office late last year, many emerged with mixed reactions to the meeting. But one common observation emerged: McCarthy had intentionally brought in representatives from each of the Republicans’ five ideological caucuses, reminiscent of how “the five families” in “The Godfather” met to strategize in an effort to keep the peace.
The comparison stuck.
Each week the House is in session, the chairs of the five caucuses meet in the speaker’s office to discuss how lawmakers in their individual factions feel about bills that are set to be voted on in the near term and strategize about how to reach common ground on more consequential items that must be addressed in the not-so-distant future.
The “five families” represent a range of views, from the most moderate who are willing to work with Democrats to the ultraconservative who often push leadership to accept their demands in return for their votes.
Most Republicans belong to at least one group, but many claim membership in more than one because of personal interests and political leanings."
They call themselves, in a nod to The Godfather, the “five families”. Five factions of the Republican Party, vying to bend the House Speaker, the capo di tutti of conservative America, to their will and thereby assume control of perhaps the world’s most powerful chamber of democracy.
For months these groups made the vulnerable incumbent, Kevin McCarthy, contradictory offers he could not refuse. Then on October 3 he was ousted, setting off a frantic succession struggle from which no one has yet emerged victorious.
The original leading candidate, Steve Scalise, withdrew from contention last week after failing to gain the required 217 supporters. Now Jim Jordan, the Donald Trump-endorsed founder of the House Freedom Caucus, is the nominee, but 55 members voted..."
Slow down...
Meet ‘the five families’ that wield power in McCarthy’s House majority
"It all started with a meeting that then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) convened after the midterm elections. He wanted to discuss how a razor-thin Republican majority would operate — and whether he still had a pathway to lead the fractious Republican conference and become speaker of the House.
As lawmakers streamed out of the leadership office late last year, many emerged with mixed reactions to the meeting. But one common observation emerged: McCarthy had intentionally brought in representatives from each of the Republicans’ five ideological caucuses, reminiscent of how “the five families” in “The Godfather” met to strategize in an effort to keep the peace.
The comparison stuck.
Each week the House is in session, the chairs of the five caucuses meet in the speaker’s office to discuss how lawmakers in their individual factions feel about bills that are set to be voted on in the near term and strategize about how to reach common ground on more consequential items that must be addressed in the not-so-distant future.
The “five families” represent a range of views, from the most moderate who are willing to work with Democrats to the ultraconservative who often push leadership to accept their demands in return for their votes.
Most Republicans belong to at least one group, but many claim membership in more than one because of personal interests and political leanings."
"They call themselves, in a nod to The Godfather, the “five families”. Five factions of the Republican Party, vying to bend the House Speaker, the capo di tutti of conservative America, to their will and thereby assume control of perhaps the world’s most powerful chamber of democracy.
For months these groups made the vulnerable incumbent, Kevin McCarthy, contradictory offers he could not refuse. Then on October 3 he was ousted, setting off a frantic succession struggle from which no one has yet emerged victorious.
The original leading candidate, Steve Scalise, withdrew from contention last week after failing to gain the required 217 supporters. Now Jim Jordan, the Donald Trump-endorsed founder of the House Freedom Caucus, is the nominee, but 55 members voted..."
Slow down...
Meet ‘the five families’ that wield power in McCarthy’s House majority
"It all started with a meeting that then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) convened after the midterm elections. He wanted to discuss how a razor-thin Republican majority would operate — and whether he still had a pathway to lead the fractious Republican conference and become speaker of the House.
As lawmakers streamed out of the leadership office late last year, many emerged with mixed reactions to the meeting. But one common observation emerged: McCarthy had intentionally brought in representatives from each of the Republicans’ five ideological caucuses, reminiscent of how “the five families” in “The Godfather” met to strategize in an effort to keep the peace.
The comparison stuck.
Each week the House is in session, the chairs of the five caucuses meet in the speaker’s office to discuss how lawmakers in their individual factions feel about bills that are set to be voted on in the near term and strategize about how to reach common ground on more consequential items that must be addressed in the not-so-distant future.
The “five families” represent a range of views, from the most moderate who are willing to work with Democrats to the ultraconservative who often push leadership to accept their demands in return for their votes.
Most Republicans belong to at least one group, but many claim membership in more than one because of personal interests and political leanings."