Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, prefers a "Republican solution" for House speaker but said it might be necessary to work with Democrats if the "radical" faction of the GOP conference continues to prevent them from electing one.
Turner, who backs Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, for speaker, made the comments Sunday during an interview on CBS News' "Face the Nation."
"I think Jim Jordan will be an excellent speaker. I think he'll be able to get to 217," Turner told CBS News. "If not, we have other leaders in the House. And certainly, if there is a need, if the radical, you know, almost just handful of people in the Republican side make it unable ... to be able to return to general work on the House, then I think, obviously, there will be a deal [that] will have to be done."
Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, made the comments amid the chaos that continues to consume House Republicans, eight of whom — along with Democrats voting en bloc — voted to oust Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., nearly two weeks ago. Then Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, removed himself from the running late last week after failing to garner the necessary floor votes.
Turner blames Democrats for voting with the GOP hard-liners to oust McCarthy in the first place. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said at the time that Democrats wanted no part of the GOP’s civil war.
"Kevin McCarthy was fired because he had sought a bipartisan solution to keep the government open. And those who wanted to close down the government — instead they closed down the House of Representatives with the aid of Democrats," Turner said.
"It's going to be hard for [Democrats' in the future to come, if they want to work in bipartisanship when they fired the guy that was sitting there for doing so," said Turner. "So at this point, I would prefer there to be a Republican solution; because when they rejected bipartisanship, it's kind of hard to then go back to it."
For his part, Jeffries said Sunday that talks centering on a possible bipartisan solution to the speakership situation are underway.
"When we get back to Washington tomorrow, it's important to begin to formalize those discussions," Jeffries said on "Meet the Press."
"My Republican colleagues have a simple choice ... they can either double or triple down on the chaos, dysfunction, and extremism; or let's have a real conversation about changing the rules of the House so it can work in the best interests of the American people," Jeffries said.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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