… Closed Negotiations “Were Not Contentious…”
“U.S. Rep. French Hill never doubted Kevin McCarthy’s chances of becoming speaker of the House of Representatives. (…)
“Hill and Rep. Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs were part of the negotiating team that worked on building support for McCarthy. Hill said he joined the group at McCarthy’s request. Westerman was also part of the team due to his chairmanship of the House Natural Resources Committee.
“I’ve been friends with McCarthy since I’ve been here, and I’ve been a strong supporter of his,” Westerman said. “I let him know early on I was going to support him and help however I could.”
(…)
“McCarthy vowed to challenge the opposition during a Republican conference meeting Jan. 3, the first day of the new Congress. It was at that meeting that Hill and other Republicans recognized the number of “no” votes was more than anticipated.
“I believe you had 20 or so votes that were not yet ‘yes,’ many of whom had different priorities, and there was no one unifying factor among those no votes,” Hill said. “Their lack of consistent requests and the ability to represent that was a little challenging at the beginning.”
“Westerman stated the lawmakers who voted against McCarthy — a group as large as 21 individuals at one point — were risking the direction of House Republicans and endangering the party’s legislative goals. (…)
“It became more than about Kevin McCarthy becoming speaker; it became about the Republican conference being the Republican conference,” Hill said. “It’s like you had a primary, and then you go to the general election and the people who lost in the primary decide they want to jeopardize the general election. We could not let that happen.”
“While cameras captured the frustration in the House chamber, Westerman said closed negotiations were not contentious. Hill and Westerman credited McCarthy’s opponents…”
READ MORE about the roles Hill and Westerman played and their perspectives on the GOP House majority at ArkansasOnline.com