The influential and conservative Club for Growth announced it had reached a deal with a super PAC associated with House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), which could signal a possible change in the House speaker race following an impasse that led to no speaker being chosen after six rounds of voting by Wednesday afternoon.
The deal made with the McCarthy-affiliated super PAC, Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), involves CLF pledging to not participate in open-seat Republican primary elections in safe red districts and also vowing that it will not allow other super PACs to do the same.
Club for Growth’s president, Dave McIntosh, declared in a statement that the agreement “fulfills a major concern” that his group had raised and added that as long as specific “principles” are met, Club for Growth would endorse McCarthy for the position of speaker.
“This agreement on super PACs fulfills a major concern we have pressed for,” McIntosh explained. “We understand that Leader McCarthy and Members are working on a rules agreement that will meet the principles we have set out previously. Assuming these principles are met, Club for Growth will support Kevin McCarthy for Speaker.”
Club for Growth is a well-funded group that backs candidates who support the concept of limited government and economic conservatism.
The agreement reached with CLF, one of the largest fundraising organizations, is significant as some of McCarthy's adversaries in the race to become speaker have been trying to stop CLF's participation in Republican primary contests.
CLF’s president, Don Conston, noted that Republicans were able to win seats in 2020 and 2022 under McCarthy's leadership. Conston also said that CLF would like McCarthy to remain at the helm so that Republicans would be able to “pick up seats for the third cycle in a row.”
Conston said, “CLF will not spend in any open-seat primaries in safe Republican districts and CLF will not grant resources to other super PACs to do so. CLF has never spent a dollar against a Republican incumbent before and obviously will continue that policy in the future.”
McCarthy told Punchbowl News after hearing of the Club for Growth development that “talks are progressing” in his efforts to negotiate with the 20 members who have consistently rejected his bid to become the next Speaker of the House.
The seventh round of voting for the new speaker was anticipated for either Wednesday night or Thursday.
