New House speaker McCarthy faces threat of moderate revolt over rules

The House was set to vote on Monday evening on a crucial rules package governing business in the lower chamber in the 118th Congress, which kicked off last week with California congressman McCarthy needing a historic 15 rounds of voting to clinch the speakership.

The package governs how the House will conduct its business, and will cement many of the procedural giveaways McCarthy last week in the final throes of frantic negotiations with his own side, where he had to win over rightwing insurgents.

However, those concessions could spark a revolt among moderate Republicans and others unhappy with the deal the speaker made, again raising the possibility of another bout of standoff and legislative paralysis.

McCarthy was hard at work on Capitol Hill on Monday prior to the House going into session trying to head off any such revolt and ensure a smooth passage for the rules package later in the day. He can only afford to lose a handful votes from his party in the House to avoid defeat on any measure.

That prompted the conservative group FreedomWorks on Monday to signal that Gonzales should be frozen out if he rebels.

It also includes reinstating a provision to allow lawmakers to propose amendments to appropriations bills, adds a 72-hour window for members to read bills before they vote, and a commitment to vote on legislation on term limits for members of Congress.