“Speaker John Boehner is considering delaying the internal election for House majority leader and majority whip, leaving only the party vote for speaker to be decided on Thursday, according to multiple Republican sources with direct knowledge of the deliberations”, Politico’s Jake Sherman, John Bresnahan and Lauren French report.
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Chaffetz says it’s possible he can persuade those members who can’t automatically vote to promote the existing leadership to vote for him, and if he can get those members it’s possible he can get more. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California is widely supported to move into the role, but on Sunday Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah said he’ll run against McCarthy. He has worked against government waste and abuse, and his uncompromising style would be a welcome addition to a Republican leadership that so far has done little with its power to make any meaningful change in Washington.
There hasn’t been a second round of votes since 1923, when a group of progressive Republicans challenged the incumbent Speaker Frederick Gillett of Massachusetts.
Mr. Hoyer said his beloved University of Maryland football team is hurting this season, “but not as much as the House Republicans”. “It’s not normal that he does this”, Chaffetz said on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports”.
“I’m exhausted of not actually getting to the end zone”, Chaffetz said. “What I’m offering myself up as is: Can I be palatable to those people who desperately want this change and will not, cannot, vote for Kevin McCarthy on the House floor?”
Boehner’s announcement on the timing of the elections came amid ongoing turmoil in the House GOP and as Chaffetz presented himself as a new face who can unite the House.
Chaffetz also promoted his skills as an articulate GOP messenger, a trait a few believe McCarthy lacks. Chaffetz has been insisting that 50 Republicans would vote against McCarthy on the House floor, keeping the House majority well under the 218 votes necessary to secure the Speakership. – Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) would not only like to stop Kevin McCarthy from moving up one notch in the leadership, but also wants to be the consensus candidate for Speaker. “Equally important, we need a body of Representatives who are supported by the leadership for the work they were elected to do”.
For the House Freedom Caucus, it all comes down to “process”. Still, the longest election for the post took place in 1855-1856, when the incoming Republican Party, which had been created just a year earlier, took more than two months to choose a man to wield the gavel.
He jumped into the race after criticizing McCarthy’s flubbed interview on Fox regarding the House Select Committee on Benghazi.
McCarthy, Chaffetz and a third speaker candidate, Rep. Daniel Webster (Fla.), will start making their cases directly to colleagues Tuesday evening at a members-only forum sponsored by hard-line conservative groups. (How we do that is) part of the discussion tonight.
“The American people and, more importantly, the Republicans in this country are not going to be happy with just a shifting of seats”, said Rep. James B. Renacci (Ohio), who had called for the delay.
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The declared candidates to be the next majority leader are House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price and the current whip, Rep. Steve Scalise.
