Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., told Newsmax on Wednesday that Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., "is a great individual" to be House speaker but Republicans have "a lot of work to do" as they move forward.
Johnson on Wednesday became the 56th House speaker, replacing Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who was ousted by a historic motion to vacate vote, Oct. 3.
"Mike is a great friend of mine," Hern told "National Report." "He's a great individual. I think he's somebody who can unite the Conference. He's liked very well across the aisle as well. So, I think it makes for a little, maybe less confrontational Congress.
"As we move forward, we have a lot of work to do. The most immediate thing is to deal with the Israel issue. Both the condemnation of Hamas as terrorists, as we work toward supplemental [aid] for Israel is very important, and getting the government funded and making sure we don't have a government shutdown on Nov. 17."
Hern was interested in the speaker role but did not have the votes. The motion to vacate sparked by eight Republicans brought chaos to the process of choosing a new speaker.
"If the conference wants to change the rules, then we should sit down and have that conversation," Hern said. "We went through about seven iterations of that after winning the majority in November of last year. And so, as we go forward as members look at, you know, as we regain our footing here, I think it's something that a lot of the members are going to want to talk about."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
Peter Malbin ✉
Peter Malbin, a Newsmax writer, covers news and politics. He has 30 years of news experience, including for the New York Times, New York Post and Newsweek.com.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.