House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will roll out a four-part plan dubbed “Commitment to America” that outlines priorities for House Republicans at a Pittsburgh event on Sept. 19.
McCarthy has said the midterm elections will be a referendum on Democratic control of Washington, but with the plan he also aims to give voters a reason to vote in favor of the GOP.
Axios was first to report on the planned Pittsburgh rollout event.
The “Commitment to America” has been in the works for more than a year. McCarthy assigned more than half of the members of the GOP conference to different issue “task forces,” some of which have released legislative text and plan frameworks.
Messaging memos distributed by McCarthy’s office before the August recess outline four priorities: “An economy that is strong,” focusing in part on moving supply chains from China to the U.S.; “A nation that is safe,” highlighting migration policies and the U.S.-Mexico border; “A future that is free,” outlining policies concerning public schools; and “a government that is accountable,” promising oversight and investigation into the Biden administration.
McCarthy previewed the plan in a speech from Scranton, Pa. last week ahead of a prime-time address from President Biden that warned about threats to Democracy from “MAGA Republicans.”
“We will fight to stop inflation and lower the cost of living. We will fight to lower the cost of gas. We will stop taxpayer dollars from being wasted on failed programs,” McCarthy said. “We will pass the parents bill of rights so parents have a say in their children’s education. We will defend American sovereignty. We will conduct vigorous oversight, check abuses of power and hold all wrongdoers accountable, including our Department of Justice. We will move the supply chain from China back to America. We will pass tough laws and legislation to make our communities safer.”
The “Commitment to America” title references former GOP Speaker Newt Gingrich’s (Ga.) “Contract with America” plan that preceded the “Republican revolution” House takeover in 1994. Gingrich spoke to House Republicans at their annual retreat in March of this year.
But it is also not an entirely new concept for McCarthy. He also revealed a “Commitment to America” plan in 2020.