McCarthy-Aligned PAC Hauls in Cash For Pro-Impeachment House Republicans

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s joint fundraising PAC, Take Back the House 2022, raised a combined $823,000 last year for five of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump. The fundraising pits the Republican leader of the lower chamber against the former president and the candidates he has endorsed in three of those primaries ahead of the November midterms.
The House Republicans who voted for impeachment in 2021 have presented a dilemma for House GOP leaders who want to hold incumbent seats in swing districts without provoking the ire of the former president, whose main goal since January 2021 has been to oust members of the party he deems insufficiently loyal – to Trump.
“I guess the question is, are we going to start playing in primaries? … That’s [McCarthy’s] business, not mine,” GOP Rep. Andy Biggs told The Dispatch Tuesday. As former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, Biggs spearheaded two failed attempts last year to remove pro-impeachment GOP Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for their decision to serve as the only two Republican members of the House Select Committee investigating January 6.
The spending makes clear that McCarthy believes that a vote to impeach Trump shouldn’t necessarily cost a House GOP member fundraising support from party leaders, at least when it comes to incumbents who are running for reelection in competitive districts. Per FEC filings updated Monday, last year Take Back the House 2022 raised $178,293.13 for David Valadao of California, $159,856.96 for Peter Meijer of Michigan, $160,600.23 for Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington, and $163,713.72 for Fred Upton of Michigan. Take Back the House 2022 also gave $160,600.26 last year to New York GOP Rep. John Katko, who announced this month he will not seek reelection.