Three Republicans – Chaffetz, McCarthy, and Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., are seeking the speaker’s gavel.
Advertisement
“I’ve had enough members who’ve come and said, ‘Please Jason, do this, ‘” Chaffetz said on Fox News Sunday. “He’s going to fall short of the 218 votes on the floor of House“, Chaffetz said.
“I’m offering myself as an alternative”, Chaffetz said.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz made it official on Sunday morning. “They want us to tackle the tough issues, they want us to fight”.
Chaffetz, in reference to McCarthy, said “You don’t just give an automatic promotion to the existing leadership team”. “That doesn’t signal change”.
The news of John Boehner’s resignation as Speaker of the House has many wondering what comes next in such a deeply divided Congress. McCarthy later said his words were misinterpreted.
Hannity had been pressing McCarthy for some kind of evidence the House GOP majority in the past few years had achieved something.
The race for Speaker could turn the House floor into complete chaos later this month, prompting an ugly public fight and further roiling a Republican Party struggling to present a governing vision for the country. And if he were to become Speaker, he would take up the gavel with less experience in the House than any speaker since Charles Frederick Crisp in 1891. That outcome is less certain because of potential opposition to McCarthy from the same 30-plus hard-line conservatives who pushed Boehner out. “I think I can bridge that divide”. “There’s no doubt, that’s something that has hurt him and I’m sure he wishes he could take it back and reposition”. He enjoys a week’s head start in building support, a ready-made political infrastructure and close relationships across the Republican conference built during his stint as the GOP’s chief House candidate recruiter ahead of the 2010 midterm elections.
He stressed that McCarthy has majority of the conference support to win the closed-door secret ballot on Thursday.
Chaffetz asserted that it’s a vote McCarthy can not win.
“You need 218 votes on the floor of the House”.
“When 60 percent of all Republican voters believe that Beltway Republicans have betrayed them, this is a historic time to change the current direction of Congress“, said Huelskamp in a statement October 1.
For Greg Lankler, managing director at the lobbying firm Mercury, and a former Hill staffer, the true test will come when its time to pass a final appropriations bill for defense – which is deserving of special consideration because service members risk their lives. It’s being driven by Rep. Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, who formally requested the delay in a letter set to be publicly released in the coming hours.
Fox News commentator Brit Hume noted after Chaffetz’s appearance, that if it wasn’t the Utah congressman who jumped in the race, it would have been someone else.
Advertisement
Chaffetz suggested that McCarthy’s candidacy may suffer within the Republican ranks because he’s perceived as being too closely aligned with Boehner.
