Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., told Newsmax on Thursday that Republicans need to “find consensus on the path forward” after Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, failed to secure enough votes to become speaker after two rounds of votes.
Lawler, who was one of more than 20 Republicans to vote against Jordan in the last round, told “Wake Up America” that he still believes former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., “is the right person to lead the conference,” and criticized Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz for forcing him out.
“We would not be in this situation if Matt Gaetz and seven Republicans didn't team up with 208 Democrats … to remove the Republican speaker,” Lawler said.
He added, “As a result of that, and the subsequent blocking of Steve Scalise, who won a majority … in the conference, you now have a situation where people are really dug in.”
Lawler said he told Jordan last week to "get everybody in the room, you need the 20 or so that over the course of the year have undermined the conference … you have to get those folks in the room with the swing district members and those folks that are now opposed to you and find consensus on the path forward to govern.”
He added, “Frankly, it doesn't matter who the speaker is, if we can't get 218 [votes] on the floor and govern.”
Lawler said this “is the fundamental issue that has not been addressed here, and it's the challenge going forward.”
When asked who should be speaker if not Jordan, Lawler said, “I still fundamentally believe Kevin McCarthy is the right person to lead the conference, but if we can’t find consensus, I think what is extremely clear is that we need to get back to work and we need to get the House open, and I think in the immediate we need to empower Patrick McHenry to serve with the powers of the speaker.”
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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