WASHINGTON – One of Kevin McCarthy’s top antagonists almost missed his chance to vote against the California Republican for House speaker on Friday because he spoke on TV.
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) was being interviewed live on Fox News from a camera outside the House chamber as the House wrapped up its seventh vote on who should lead the institution. Journalist observed Perry’s friends try to get his attention.
“Scott, you’re going to miss the vote,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) said.
Inside the room, the officer invites the members who have not voted to come to the “well” of the house floor. Perry entered the room, walked up to the dais, and was told he was off the record. He later voted 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 TV is useful because Americans “deserve to know what’s going on.”
As of Thursday evening, the House had counted nine votes for speaker and each time McCarthy failed to secure a majority. It will not affect the results if Perry has missed the vote, but it has been so little variation from ballot to ballot that lawmakers have seen even small changes as a signal of one side or the other gaining momentum. When Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) started voting “now” Wednesday, for example, after voting for McCarthy on Friday, it was a big deal.
Over the course of three days, more and more members filed in and out of the room as the clerk called out their names in alphabetical order. Perry and other McCarthy opponents, in particular, have been huddling in rooms around the Capitol as McCarthy tries to win over.
Perry, chairman of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, has led McCarthy’s opposition, portraying him as a DC swamp creature who will do nothing to fight Democrats and control wasteful government spending. (Perry was also heavily involved in former President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election.)
However, Perry and his colleagues did not have an alternative candidate that could garner much support among Republicans, and they disagreed with McCarthy’s bid to change House rules to empower lawmakers. The standoff never ends.
But there’s one thing Perry and the gang are sure to get out of the standoff so far: lots of attention and TV time.