@NCCapitol

After holding out, NC's Bishop now supports McCarthy for House speaker

Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina voted for U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy to hold the gavel after supporting other nominees in previous votes for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Posted 2023-01-06T19:23:13+00:00 - Updated 2023-01-06T21:21:28+00:00

Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) speaks as voting for the next House Speaker begins for a third day, at the Capitol in Washington on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Thursday offered fresh concessions to hard-right Republicans refusing to back him for House speaker, as a historic deadlock that has paralyzed Congress entered its third day with no resolution. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times)

Paul Specht

, WRAL state government reporter

North Carolina Republicans are now united in their support for a GOP Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives after one member of the state’s delegation left a band of holdouts in a high-profile intraparty power struggle.

U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop, who represents North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District, voted Friday for U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to hold the gavel. The vote represents a flip after Bishop supported other nominees the previous three days. Bishop said Tuesday on social media that “McCarthy is not the right candidate to be Speaker.” On Thursday, he nominated U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida for speaker.

Bishop was among a group of about 20 Republicans who initially opposed McCarthy's nomination as they sought concessions. U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., tweeted this week that the group wanted McCarthy to promise votes on items related to the federal budget, immigration, and term limits for members of Congress.

In a statement Friday, Bishop said he and other holdouts had reached an agreement that "completes a months-long effort to cause the Republican Conference to reform rules and procedures, commit to specific policy strategies, and improve the distribution of conservative voices across key committees."

"These achievements will help to make the People's House truly work for the American people again," Bishop said in the statement. "We will hold Mr. McCarthy accountable to his promises."

McCarthy has been the leading Republican in all the votes for House speaker in the new session. Through Friday afternoon, there were still enough GOP opponents to prevent the California congressman from obtaining the position, even after more than a dozen votes.

Bishop was among several McCarthy critics who had been seeking changes to House rules limiting debate on certain bills. In December, he voted against the $1.7 trillion omnibus and slammed the way it was pushed through the House chamber.

“This bill was unveiled in the dead of night, with no time for proper consideration before voting took place,” Bishop’s office said in a Dec. 23 press release. “It was crammed full of earmarks, wasteful spending, and liberal pet projects, and rushed through a sham process.”