Utah Representative Enters Race For House Speaker
“He’s going to fall short of the 218 votes on the floor of the House“.
McCarthy – House majority leader since August 2014 – announced his candidacy after Boehner, of Ohio, announced September 25 he would retire from Congress effective October 30. “It’s grown and expanded because we want to get to truth”. “That doesn’t signal change”. “That’s why I’ve entered this race”, Chaffetz told “Fox News Sunday“.
One-time college placekicker Jason Chaffetz wants to boot Republican House leaders off their path to promotions.
This is a critical moment for the GOP.
Speaker John Boehner had a tough hand to play, given the internal splits among House Republicans.
In the web-only interview, Pelosi said the House has a full agenda and that it can “be one that is a successful path to the future or it can be a calendar of chaos, and that really is up to the Republicans“. But it will be surprising if a few of his fellow Republicans don’t start asking: “He’s got the guts and the hunger, but does he have the brains?”
Daniel Webster of Florida, who until the announcement from Chaffetz was the only declared challenger to McCarthy. Jim Jordan and Jeb Hensarling. “Unlike the last three Speaker elections, this time we should vet each candidate thoroughly”. There are 246 Republicans that will vote, but there are almost 50 people and a growing number who will not and can not vote for Kevin McCarthy as the speaker on the floor. His tireless work ethic and easygoing demeanor made him popular with his colleagues.
Chaffetz suggested Sunday that he’d be a more articulate speaker than McCarthy. And if he were to become Speaker, he would take up the gavel with less experience in the House than any speaker since Charles Frederick Crisp in 1891.
Chaffetz also hinted that he would be more willing to use the brinkmanship tactics favored by the most conservative Republicans. And, surely, he knew that there would be an opportunity immediately afterwards to present his case to the public. “I do think McCarthy has the votes for it. He did speak inartfully this week”.
It’s not clear that McCarthy or Chaffetz would win enough votes to succeed Boehner.
McCarthy later tried to correct the damage his statement caused to the Benghazi committee, but the bottom line is that the use of the House’s investigative powers has served the GOP’s interests. “Chaffetz, who remarked that he’s ‘comfortable with losing, ‘ would not say whether he has any pledged supporters”. “The American people have entrusted Republicans with the largest majority since the 1920s, but with that majority comes a responsibility to get the job done that we were elected to do”.
“I’m being recruited”, he said. “The fallacy of those who think they can balance the budget on the backs of our men and women in uniform is a false victory”. It’s time to choose a speaker who will restore respect and order to the House so that we can once again govern as the Constitution intends.