Kevin McCarthy, House Majority Leader explained his decision after stunning his colleagues at a close-door-conference to nominate the successor of House Speaker John Boehner.
Advertisement
A short while later, Speaker John Boehner announced he would postpone his scheduled October 30 resignation. Chaffetz and three-term Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida both say they can bring a needed fresh perspective to GOP leadership, unlike McCarthy, who has served as majority leader under Boehner.
CHARLIE DENT: Hey. Thank you for having me on the show. He suffered a setback when Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) backed Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.).
One of those names was Rep. Ed Royce, R-Fullerton, who last month told the Register that McCarthy had an impressive record, including the establishment of a Young Guns program that recruits and grooms promising young candidates.
McMorris Rodgers is a member of the GOP leadership, chairing the House Republican Conference.
If Ryan changes his mind and runs for speaker – no other major contender surfaced as of Thursday night – Ryan “would win”, Kinzinger said. Ryan said through a spokesman that he did not want the job.
Stutzman was among a dozen who supported Webster when he ran against Boehner for speaker at the start of the current Congress in January. “It’s just premature for Scalise, and he was recently seared by scandal, which, while not disqualifying, does nothing to help”. He was struggling to distance himself from Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke after revelations that he spoke at a 2002 gathering hosted by a white supremacist group.
Brooks said concerns he had with McCarthy’s candidacy for speaker centered on immigration policy as well as protecting funding for national defense and NASA. “We need a new approach”, said DesJarlais, who was the only Tennessee Republican to vote against re-electing Boehner as speaker earlier this year.
“If we are going to be strong, we’ve got to be united”, he said. He spent much of the afternoon following McCarthy’s announcement begging Ryan to reconsider. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who jumped into the race on Sunday, said Thursday he was “shocked” by McCarthy’s withdrawal but that he remains a candidate for the job.
But McCarthy’s decision to bail quickly revealed factions even among the conservative bloc, leading a few caucus members to instead urge the group’s leader, U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, or someone else to seek the post.
Advertisement
“We need to take a breath, think carefully about the best team to lead Congress and this country in an entirely new direction as voters have demanded, ” he said in a statement.
