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NC’s Rep Bishop wants nothing in McCarthy negotiations

Rep. Dan Bishop speaks to reporters outside the House chamber in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023.

Rep. Dan Bishop speaks to reporters outside the House chamber in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023.

Danielle Battaglia

Three hours.

That’s the amount of time Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, gave himself Wednesday night to negotiate with the 20 Republicans blocking his rise to House speaker.

But how do you negotiate with a man who wants nothing and doesn’t know how you can convince him to be comfortable voting for you?

That’s exactly the position McCarthy finds himself in when negotiating with North Carolina’s Rep. Dan Bishop.

Bishop, a Republican from Charlotte, spoke to reporters outside the chamber shortly after the House adjourned around 5 p.m. Wednesday, with plans to resume at 8 p.m. after negotiations.

Who else for speaker?

Bishop said there’s a number of people who could be a speaker.

Among those who have come up for a vote besides McCarthy have been Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, Byron Donalds, a Republican from Florida, Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, and Andy Biggs, a Republican from Arizona.

If McCarthy were to step aside, some of his allies’ names, including Steve Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana, and Patrick McHenry, a Republican from North Carolina, have also been floated.

Bishop wouldn’t commit either way to Scalise or McHenry.

“I’ve talked with Patrick about a lot about the problems and how we approach it and he’s a very creative — he’s a very smart guy, who happens to be from my state,” Bishop said.

He said he hasn’t talked to McHenry about a potential speakership.

Bishop says he’s not seeking a position

When asked if McHenry, who is serving as a pseudo-whip for McCarthy’s bid, has offered Bishop anything to change his vote, he said no one had.

“And I don’t want anything and I don’t need anything,” Bishop said.

Bishop said he’s amazed by those he said are in desperate search of a spot on a committee or subcommittee or in leadership.

“I don’t care about that,” Bishop said. “In fact, I’m sort of older than the average bear. I’m not old, at least I don’t think I’m old, but I’m not going to stay up here for decades. We’re going to either see improvement up here in the same way we made remarkable improvements in North Carolina, in the state legislature, or I’m out.”

On Wednesday morning, former President Donald Trump voiced his support for McCarthy, but that wasn’t enough to move the 20 holdouts, many of whom make up the ultraconservative Freedom Caucus.

Bishop said he has not personally heard from the former president.

“I’m a backbencher,” Bishop said.

While House Republicans appear to be at an impasse in finding the next speaker, Bishop doesn’t see it that way, he said as he headed from a television interview to his next meeting to negotiate who might be speaker.

Bishop said he’s not certain he can’t have his mind changed into voting for McCarthy.

“It’s not about Kevin in the sense of any animosity,” Bishop said. “I have none. I find him very likable. Kevin has been in leadership for 14 years. He’s been saying the same things about the existential threats to the country for those 14 years. Every one of them has gotten worse, not better. It’s not entirely his fault, but it is the record.”

Bishop said negotiations over the speaker’s position began this summer, but no one was willing to talk to the dissenters.

“It’s not a good sign that all the rule changes that have been made came from this little group of 20 people,” Bishop said. “Why didn’t the leadership come forward with all those rule changes or better ones? That’s an indication of where we’ve been and where we are.

“Someone could come up with a great idea. That would give me sufficient comfort to say despite the record I’ve described, we can deliver for the American people with Kevin McCarthy as a leader, but I don’t, I haven’t seen it yet.”

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