McCarthy Starts Out With Agenda Already Hemmed In by Dissidents
- New House speaker’s maneuvers hand leverage to GOP right wing
- Takes helm of fractious majority after days of drama, distrust
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Newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sought to rally Republicans with pledges to champion federal spending cuts, strengthen border security and counter “woke indoctrination,” hinting at his dependence on a small group of populist conservatives over the next two years.
Fresh from a leadership struggle that lasted more than four days and raised questions about his party’s capacity to fulfill basic functions of governing, McCarthy now confronts a Democratic-controlled Senate and White House at the helm of a slender, fractious House majority.