Inside McCarthy’s House: Famous friends and hard realities

By LISA MASCARO
AP Congressional Correspondent

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three weeks into the new era of the House Republican majority, the risks of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s leadership style are clearly taking hold. In the interest of opening up the legislative process, McCarthy is allowing freewheeling debate. And this past week saw dozens of amendments during a robust debate on an oil and gas drilling bill. He’s trying to allow the hard-right and pragmatic Republicans equal seats at the table. But the dilemma for McCarthy is that the GOP agenda will be subjected to prolonged debates and delays, and there’s the chance that nothing gets done at all.