.RepJeffries says it's not Democrats' job to 'save the Republicans from their dysfunction'
Jeffries deflected when questioned if his party would use the chaos across the aisle to its advantage and work with centrist Republicans to change rules or vote for a consensus candidate. All House Democrats voted for Jeffries for speaker, which requires a 218-vote majority, while House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy ended with 202 votes and Rep. Jim Jordan with 20.
Some centrist Republicans have floated the idea of working with Democrats to nominate a consensus candidate if the GOP can't overcome the impasse between Jordan's and McCarthy's supporters. Jeffries said Democrats"haven't had any outreach" from the Republican side. Democrats could also push to change the rules such that a plurality rather than a majority is needed to become speaker, but Jeffries wouldn't say if this was something he would consider. If that rule were to change, Jeffries could become speaker if Republicans still couldn't unify.
The House voted to adjourn until Wednesday at noon after three roll call votes failed to produce a speaker. McCarthy has said he has no plans to back down despite needing 16 of his detractors to change their minds. Jordan nominated McCarthy and said he does not want the position, but this didn't stop Rep. Byron Donalds on the third ballot from joining a group of 19 conservatives to back Jordan over McCarthy.
McCarthy's major concessions to the conservatives aligned with the House Freedom Caucus haven't won him enough friends to solve his math problem. His opponents see him as too establishment and say he hasn't shown effective leadership during his years in the upper echelons of the GOP.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
With Republicans in disarray, Jeffries trounces McCarthy in first two rounds of speaker’s race voting | amNewYorkBrooklyn's own Hakeem Jeffries, the newly minted House Democratic Leader, won the first two rounds of voting for the House speaker over Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA) — but he fell short of the 218-vote majority needed to win the post.
Read more »
Republicans Humiliated by Republicans in Kevin McCarthy Speaker VoteA historic moment in loser-dom: It's the first time in a 100 years that a Speaker hasn’t been selected on the first ballot!
Read more »
2024 contest comes into view with hurdles for Republicans and DemocratsFor Democrats, much depends on Joe Biden and whether the president will follow through on his plan to seek reelection. Republicans face contentious leadership battles inside their new House majority and at the Republican National Committee.
Read more »
GOP Rep. Waltz rips Republicans for opposing Kevin McCarthy: 'We're empowering Democrats'Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., explained on 'The Faulkner Focus' that Republicans can't move forward in the House until a vote is held for speaker.
Read more »
Dan Crenshaw pitches solution to border crisis to unite Democrats and RepublicansRep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) went a step further than GOP leadership in his proposal to end the crisis at the nation's borders, where federal law enforcement has encountered illegal immigrants approximately 5 million times since President Joe Biden took office.
Read more »