Short Takes – 1-6-23

House Speaker vote: McCarthy builds momentum in Speaker fight. TheHill.com article. Pull quote: “The House has adjourned until 10 p.m. Friday, after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), for the first time in days, picked up new GOP votes in his quest to become Speaker.”

Live updates: McCarthy still short in Speaker of the house vote totals, but a deal is in view. USAToday.com article. Pull quote: “Four grueling days of negotiations and the most speaker votes in 100 years finally produced some results in his favor, flipping 14 of the 20 detractors in his path to holding the gavel.”

Speaker Quest Reveals McCarthy’s Tenuous Grip on an Unruly Majority. NYTimes.com article. Pull quote: “Already, the functioning of the House had ground to a halt before it even began, rendering the body essentially useless. Without a speaker, lawmakers were unable to pass bills, form committees or even get sworn in. And Mr. McCarthy had promised still more concessions to the hard-right group that would substantially weaken the speakership in exchange for their votes, effectively giving them new tools for disrupting business in the House — and the ability to hold him hostage to their demands.”

Rep. Kevin McCarthy Moves Closer to Clinching Speaker’s Post. WSJ.com article. Pull quote: “As lawmakers began to grow weary and worry that negotiators were giving too much to the far-right detractors, Rep. Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican, on a Friday morning call with House Republicans emphasized that the deal wasn’t going to hurt moderate Republicans or take away chairmanships from those who have supported Mr. McCarthy, according to two people familiar with the situation.”