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The Taliban 20’s McCarthy To-Do List

“There’s no reason for the 20 to negotiate against what was already agreed to,” Gaetz told me, regarding the grab bag of promises they extracted in exchange for supporting Kevin McCarthy’s speakership in January. “We shouldn't have to pay twice for the same hostage.”

Matt Gaetz, the unofficial spokesperson of the so-called Taliban 20.
Matt Gaetz, the unofficial spokesperson of the so-called Taliban 20. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Tina Nguyen
April 12, 2023

Congress hadn’t been back more than a few days from its March recess when The New York Times kicked a Capitol Hill hornet’s nest with a story insinuating that Kevin McCarthy, the Speaker of the House, had lost his faith in Jodey Arrington, the Budget Committee chair, to actually deliver the party’s budget. “More than half a dozen people familiar with his thinking” told the Times that McCarthy regards Arrington as incompetent; others said he had called Steve Scalise, his No. 2, “ineffective,” and so on. So much for party unity.