House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's time as the chamber's leader is in "peril" because her Democrat majority is "so slim" that she can only afford to lose a few votes, Rep. Elise Stefanik said Monday.
"That means there are a number of members who voted against her last time have to vote for her," the New York Republican told Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "It's not just the socialist, far-left progressives like AOC (Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.,) Jamaal Bowman, and others withholding their votes, but also some of the middle-of-the-road Democrats."
In addition, there are some Democrats who have promised constituents they wouldn't vote for Pelosi, "but I know their arms are going to be twisted," Stefanik said.
The congresswoman continued that she's learned since coming to Washington that a speaker can be voted out not necessarily because there is another individual who can get to 218 votes, but "it's when a speaker can no longer deliver the 218 votes that are needed. I don't think she has the juice to get it done."
The mainstream media isn't reporting on Pelosi's trouble, said Stefanik, but it doesn't want to "acknowledge weakness" on her part, she said
"Kevin McCarthy has a unified support from the Republican conference and we are excited to vote for (him) as speaker," said Stefanik.
Meanwhile, Stefanik on Monday gave President Donald Trump credit for signing the COVID relief bill on Sunday but said he's right to have said it was imperfect.
"The main reason why it was an imperfect bill was because Nancy Pelosi dragged her feet and politicized passing the COVID relief bill before the election," said Stefanik. "She even said so herself."
She added that she's open to voting for the $2,000 per person checks, as Trump is seeking, but she wants to see what else Pelosi tries to add to the measure.
"She is well-known for loading it up with partisan provisions," said Stefanik. "We could have gotten done earlier this year had it not been for Speaker Pelosi."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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