Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) is among those who remain doubtful that the House will quickly find a new speaker.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) won support for his speakership bid from a majority of House Republicans in a closed-door vote on Wednesday, after 113 members of the House Republican Conference voted in favor of Mr. Scalise’s speakership, while another 98 members put their support behind House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
However, on Thursday evening, Mr. Scalise pulled out of the race.
“I’m just going to be honest with you. There’s a lot of people who weren’t happy with the way that it proceeded,” Mr. McCormick told NTD’s “Capitol Report” on Thursday, before Mr. Scalise withdrew.
Of the 113 people who supported Mr. Scalise’s speakership bid, Mr. McCormick said three were delegates from U.S. territories, who have no actual power to cast votes in Congress.
Mr. McCormick, who endorsed Mr. Jordan’s speakership bid, expressed disappointment that the House Republican Conference didn’t take greater efforts to ensure they had a consensus before announcing Mr. Scalise had won the closed-door vote.
“At one time, several of us asked that we could actually have a consensus before we go out and talk to the media and discuss who actually won so that we can know that everybody who’s going to vote as a body,” the Georgia lawmaker said. “That’s one of the things that when I got to the conference, I was very direct with people. I was like ‘I just need to know who’s not going to vote with whoever we choose. … That question was not answered.”
Mr. McCormick said even after the vote, he has seen some of his House Republican colleagues argue and hold contentious phone calls about the speakership, adding to the sense of uncertainty about how a House floor vote will play out.
House Republicans United for Israel
Though the speakership remains a contentious topic, Mr. McCormick said the House Republican Conference is on the same page in terms of support for Israel.
“The good news is there is no contention over whether we support Israel,” he said.
Prior to the House Republican Conference meeting on Wednesday, both Mr. Jordan and Mr. Scalise shared messages of support for Israel after Hamas gunmen breached the Gaza-Israel barrier and killed hundreds of people in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Mr. McCormick said the House Republican Conference feels it has the ability to advance new legislation to provide assistance to Israel, even without a House speaker to set the legislative agenda. The House is currently led by Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.)
“Congress has the ability to act temporarily, under a speaker pro tem and McHenry is ready to do that,” Mr. McCormick said. “And we’ve already discussed the constitutionality of that. So we are a functional body, believe it or not, and we can bring some things to the floor if it’s getting delayed for a speaker consensus.”
Mr. McCormick said advancing new rounds of U.S. support for Israel under a speaker pro tempore is “maybe not as efficient as we’d like it” but “we can still help Israel for sure.”