Reps. Tom McClintock and Matt Gaetz (Photo: US Gov/Shutterstock)
House Republicans continue to attempt to reach a consensus on who they want to be the next Speaker. The internal GOP wranglings follow the departure of Kevin McCarthy after less than ten months in the role.
McCarthy was forced out after a handful of hard-right representatives backed a motion to vacate introduced by Florida’s Matt Gaetz. Eight Republicans then joined the 208 Democratic representatives in supporting McCarthy’s removal.
Since then, several names have been mooted to replace McCarthy, including Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan. However, both have failed to win enough support among GOP colleagues.
One GOP figure deeply unimpressed by the infighting is Rep. Tom McClintock. He represents California’s 5th district.
On the weekend, McClintock wrote an open letter to the eight Republicans who ousted McCarthy. He was responding to a letter they published Friday in which they offered to accept “censure, suspension, or removal from the Conference” in order to elect Jordan as speaker of the House.
“Dear Wayward Colleague, Your letter of October 20, in which you graciously offer to martyr yourselves as long as you can get your way, is perhaps the most selfless act in American history,” McClintock began, witheringly.
“We truly don’t deserve you,” he continued. “Your sacrifice is not in vain. You have succeeded in replacing the outdated concept of majority rule with an exciting new standard that a Speaker must be elected by 98.2 percent of the Republican conference.
“Someday, a messiah will be born unto us who can achieve this miraculous threshold, and on that day your judgment will be vindicated and you will be hailed as the geniuses that you are.”
He sarcastically signed his letter, “Your secret admirer.”
NEW: Rep. Tom McClintock is taking aim at the members who ousted McCarthy’s recent vow that they would be willing to be disciplined and expelled from the conference in order to get Jordan the gavel, with the California Republican clapping back in a sassy new letter. pic.twitter.com/UgY8WhcOWR— Juliegrace Brufke (@juliegraceb) October 21, 2023
When McCarthy tried repeatedly to gain enough votes to become Speaker of the House back in January, he capitulated to a handful of far-right members who were holding back their support. One of the concessions he made was that it would only require one Representative to lodge a motion to vacate. Previously, a majority of one party had to support a motion to vacate.
One person who appears to agree with McClintock’s view that it would take a Messiah to unite the GOP is Donald Trump. Asked yesterday to name someone who might secure all 217 GOP votes right now, he replied “Jesus Christ.”
When discussing the Speaker Vote, Donald Trump says the only one who could get 217 right now is “Jesus Christ” pic.twitter.com/Ok9n2o062a— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 24, 2023
Dan Meuser drops out
GOP Reps. are gathering in Congress today to vote yet again on a name to put forward for speaker. Eight candidates pitched their credentials to the lawmakers yesterday behind a closed-door meeting. A further one (Pennsylvania Rep. Dan Meuser) announced he was dropping out of the race. He later told reporters his party needed to get its act together.
“People are angry, people are frustrated, people are blaming us for the dysfunction, and they are kind of right. So we need to respond. We need to get this done,” Meuser said, reported The Guardian.
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pic.twitter.com/Ok9n2o062a— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 24, 2023
