McCarthy's main objective, each and every time one of these issues comes up, is to get a bill through the house. And he clearly sees these issues, maybe not as political winners per se, because he is I have to say, like a quite a savvy follower of local races. He certainly understands that he's got moderate members who are going to be put in very uncomfortable positions based on votes that are being forced by the Freedom Caucus. Do lawmakers themselves, the lawmakers like Marjorie Taylor Greene, do they benefit in being combative with McCarthy? I think so.
The defense bill is the latest piece of legislation to be weaponized by the far-right Freedom Caucus. It’s also the latest test for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
This episode was produced by Miles Bryan and Jon Ehrens, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact-checked by Laura Bullard with help from Serena Solin, engineered by Patrick Boyd with help from Michael Raphael, and hosted by Noel King.
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