Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., told Newsmax Thursday that Republicans have a “plethora” of candidates to fill the vacant Speaker of the House position and that the party needs to “unify” around one candidate.
“We have such bench strength. Steve Scalise, Kevin Hearn, Elise Stefanik, [and] Tom Emmer,” Alford said during “Wake Up America" Thursday. “All these people. Some have not put their name in just yet — I've heard from a couple of them — but we have a plethora of people to choose from that can lead our body forward with integrity, determination, and passion for America, and to bring respect, I think, and build trust and communication within our conference. That is so important right now, especially headed into the next election.”
In a historic vote Tuesday, eight House Republicans joined with Democrats to vote out Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy 216-210, leaving the position vacant.
Alford said Congress will return to Washington, D.C. next week to vote on a new speaker and move forward on spending bills to keep the government open past a Nov. 17 deadline.
“We're going to go back Tuesday,” he said. “Tuesday evening we're going to have a candidate forum where all these candidates will present their plan for the future. And then on Wednesday, we'll vote on [a new speaker]. My hope is that we decide on this as a conference behind closed doors, unlike the way it turned out last time around when we chose Kevin McCarthy. You know 87% of our conference voted for Kevin McCarthy behind closed doors. We get out on the floor, and there's a fight, 15 votes we had to have, a record number. We need to choose in a unity fashion, the Speaker of the House, and the Republican Conference, and then go out on the floor as one team, one body, one conference, and vote that person into the speaker's position.”
Alford said the unity and reset is needed because the dust-up over the speaker has caused a loss of “momentum” for the Republican Party.
“We have lost momentum,” he said. “We’ve lost momentum on getting these appropriations bills done. We've lost momentum on securing our border ... We had so many games going under Kevin McCarthy, and yet these eight people decided to bring him down. All right, so that the chapter is closed with Kevin McCarthy. We are seeking a new leader. I am confident that this new Speaker of the House is going to move forward with the actions and programs that we need to secure the border, to get our budget, right, to rebuild our military to be a great deterrent to the Chinese Communist Party.”
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Charles Kim ✉
Charles Kim, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years in reporting on news and politics.
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