Kevin McCarthy has always had his eyes on one job - Speaker of the House. But after Republicans won Congress’s lower chamber by a razor thin majority, the party’s right wing extracted major concessions before handing over the gavel. When the GOP accepted a deal with the Biden administration to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, House hardliners felt betrayed. Now McCarthy faces renewed attacks on his leadership from within his own party. With important legislation that still needs to be passed, and little wiggle room for dissent, how does McCarthy hang on?

Guest: Rachael Bade, POLITICO Senior Washington Correspondent

If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Amicus—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work.

Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.