House Republicans entering their conference meeting this morning were divided over whether to empower interim Speaker Patrick McHenry while they work to see if anyone can get enough votes to permanently secure the job.
Rep. Don Bacon, who has been voting against speaker designate Jim Jordan on the floor, told reporters he had “mixed feelings.”
“There’s pros and cons, like most things there’s not 100 or a zero here. On the good side, we’ve got to move some legislation. We’ve got to support Israel. We need to work on fiscal matters of the (Continuing Resolution) expiring 17 November. So I think for our country we need it, but I think it may delay the speaker’s thing. And we’ve got to come to a conclusion and get it done,” he said.
Rep. Marc Molinaro, a frontline Republican who has been voting for Jordan on the floor, said that he supports the resolution that would empower McHenry. “I think that short-term empowerment, and if necessary, renewal is the most appropriate thing until we can come to a position where there’s consensus around the permanent speaker,” he said.
“I’m hopeful that Jim embraces this approach. I think it’s the most appropriate thing to do, and I certainly will be advocating for temporary empowerment of the speaker pro tempore — allow the conference to decompress, reorganize, but most importantly, allow us to get back to work,” Molinaro said.
However, other Jordan allies were staunchly against any resolution to give McHenry more power.
“I’m against speaker-lite, I’m against Bud Light. I believe it is a constitutional desecration to not elect a Speaker of the House. We need to stay here until we elect a speaker,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz. “And if someone can’t get the votes, we need to go onto the next person. But twisting and torturing the Constitution to empower a temporary speaker is having a speaker-lite.”
Rep. Andy Ogles agreed. “I’m friends with Patrick McHenry. We have a job which is to elect a speaker, not a speaker pro tempore. So any resolution, anything that undermines that process is a mistake.”
He added that they should give Jordan more time to get 217 votes. “I know he worked last night and this morning, calling the 22 to see what their concerns were, but McCarthy’s even said that Jim’s only had 48 hours to work through this, he should be given more time, and I support that,” he said. “Ultimately we may have to move on, but right now we’re with Jim, and he’s working hard to get the votes.”
Rep. Ralph Norman is also opposed to an interim speakership. “I’m not going to support that. It’s time to elect a speaker. The American people want it, the American people deserve it,” he said.
