Despite Trump’s lobbying, McCarthy’s speaker bid remains imperiled on the right

Former President Donald J. Trump has been working the phones, personally pitching right-wing lawmakers on voting to make Representative Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader he has called “My Kevin,” the speaker of the House. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, the most outspoken far-right member of his conference, is publicly vouching for Mr. McCarthy. The California Republican has made private entreaties and public promises to win over his critics, including floating the impeachment of a member of President Biden’s cabinet. And yet, Mr. McCarthy, who is toiling to become speaker next year when the G.O.P. assumes the majority, has so far been unable to put down a mini-revolt on the right that threatens to imperil his bid for the top job. Mr. McCarthy has embarked on the kind of grueling campaign that lawmakers in both parties jockeying for the post have sometimes been forced to perform. But some of the hard-right lawmakers with whom he is attempting to bargain do not appear to have a price, and most care less about legislating than shrinking the federal government — or upending it completely.

“This is why we came to Congress,” Representative Bob Good of Virginia said. “This is why we’re here. We’ve got a chance to tip over that apple cart here on Jan. 3, when we elect a new speaker.” Their top demand has been that Mr. McCarthy agree in advance to a snap vote to get rid of the speaker at any time, something he has refused to accept. John Boehner, the Ohio Republican who was run out of the speaker post by the far right, famously described the approach of this faction as “legislative terrorism.” And with a razor-thin majority that only allows him to lose a few votes in the election for speaker, it could be a recipe for disaster for Mr. McCarthy. Even Mr. Trump, perhaps the most influential voice in the hard-right faction of the party, has had little success to date in moving lawmakers over to Mr. McCarthy’s side. Mr. Trump, who has announced he is running for president again in 2024, has been calling members who are ambivalent, at best, about Mr. McCarthy’s bid for the speakership and trying to persuade them that it is the best option, according to three people familiar with the calls. Mr. Trump, according to people close to him, is not entirely sold on the notion of Mr. McCarthy as a strong speaker. But he considers Mr. McCarthy better than the alternative, including improbable scenarios in which the job instead might go to a moderate who can draw some votes from Democrats, or in which a handful of Republicans defect and help to elect a Democratic speaker.