Centrist Dems are plotting a save-McCarthy strategy for the debt fight

Kevin McCarthy faces a clear challenge as he tries to strike a debt limit deal: Any compromise he makes with President Joe Biden risks sparking a conservative rebellion aimed at ending his speakership.

But some Democrats have a plan to spare him.

A small group of moderate Democratic lawmakers has quietly reassured its House GOP counterparts that it can help protect McCarthy’s gavel if his right flank revolts over a debt agreement, according to two people familiar with the discussions. If conservatives responded to a McCarthy-Biden deal by forcing a full House vote on ousting the California Republican, Democrats say they have enough members to help block it — keeping him in power.

“We’ll protect him if he does the right thing,” said one of the House Democrats involved in the talks, who requested anonymity because of the ongoing debt negotiations. That Democrat added that McCarthy himself has been briefed on the discussions.