Kevin McCarthy defies Democrats’ expectations

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has defied his critics’ expectations, winning over most of Congress‘ senior staff members in the six months since he took the gavel.

The results of last month’s The Canvass Capitol Hill survey show that 85 percent of all congressional chiefs of staff, legislative directors, communication directors, press secretaries and staff directors think McCarthy is a more effective speaker than they thought he’d be.

The numbers are part of McCarthy’s upward trajectory since his fight for the speakership in January, when it took the California Republican 15 rounds of voting, and a deal involving major concessions to the more conservative members of his caucus, to secure the gavel.

When PunchBowl News and the Locust Street Group conducted the survey in February, a month into the 118th Congress, 68 percent of staffers said the deal he made with his GOP colleagues would make him a less effective speaker. In April, only 34 percent believed McCarthy would hold his leadership position for the entire Congress.

But while McCarthy’s speakership was off to a rocky start, he has not only impressed the House GOP but his Democratic colleagues, as well. June’s survey showed that almost all Republican staffers, 97 percent, and 73 percent of Democratic staffers believe McCarthy is a more effective leader than they anticipated. The percentage of staffers who said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries would be a more effective leader fell from April’s 60 percent to 52 percent.

Comparably, in February, zero percent of Democratic staffers believed McCarthy would be a more effective speaker because of the agreement he struck, with 95 percent saying the deal would make him a less effective leader. Four percent said neither or they didn’t know.

The survey was conducted from June 5 to 26 involving 146 senior staffers—74 House staffers and 72 Senate staffers with a 50/50 party split.

Between the April and June surveys, McCarthy negotiated a debt limit deal with President Joe Biden and got two-thirds of his conference to support the package to prevent a U.S. default.

However, a majority of senior staffers, 78 percent, said the deal is likely to weaken McCarthy’s standing with the GOP’s most right-wing members, with 89 percent of Democratic staffers agreeing and 67 percent of Republican staffers saying the same.

Hardline conservatives have continued to serve as a headache for McCarthy. Recently, Representative Lauren Boebert forced a House vote to impeach Biden—a move that GOP leadership poured cold water on. The House Freedom Caucus also continues to dominate headlines for its role in the GOP’s intraparty feuds, which some warn could distract from its agenda.

Newsweek reached out to McCarthy for comment.