McCarthy Asks for Gaetz List of Seven Hard No Votes on the CR, And Gaetz Gladly Hands It Over

Rep. Gaetz would not have made the threat to make the motion to vacate the Chair, unless he had the votes, and had them from people would not fold under pressure from House Leadership and others.

Here is an example of what I mean: Rep. Gaetz announced he had seven hard House GOP No votes against the CR, regardless of the spending level concessions — and when McCarthy asked for the list of seven names, Gaetz gave the names to McCarthy:

Mr. Gaetz announced flatly that he had seven members who would oppose any plan to pass a stopgap measure to keep the government from shutting down on Oct. 1, no matter what spending or policy concessions Mr. McCarthy was willing to make to win them over. The proclamation did not go over well in the room, where even some members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus grumbled in disapproval.

But after the meeting, Mr. McCarthy quietly approached Mr. Gaetz and asked him to share the list of names, which Mr. Gaetz happily turned over.

Rep. Gaetz must be supremely confident in the immovability of those seven votes to give the names to McCarthy.