by Sharon Rondeau
(Jan. 3, 2023) — 12:13 p.m. – According to Bloomberg News, a vote for Speaker of the House will take place between noon and 1:00 PM Tuesday, just prior to the swearing-in of the 118th Congress.
The election of Rep. Kevin McCarthy by a majority of 218 in the House of Representatives remains in question, multiple sources reported Tuesday, with McCarthy aware he does not appear to possess the necessary votes to win on a first round of voting.
At approximately 11:30 AM Tuesday, McCarthy opponent Rep. Matt Gaetz gave a brief press conference in which he said his resolve was even stronger to vote against the current House Minority Leader for Speaker after meeting with McCarthy.
Reps. Lauren Boebert and Scott Perry flanked Gaetz as he spoke.
According to Gaetz, “If you want to drain The Swamp, you cannot put the biggest alligator in charge of the exercise.”
“We were threatened by my committee chairman…that if did not vote for Mr. McCarthy, we would be removed from committees,” Gaetz told reporters.
According to ABC News, Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina “added his name as another ‘no’ vote against McCarthy Tuesday morning, saying in a statement that the GOP leader has contributed to Washington’s dysfunction.”
Perry, the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, issued a statement prior to January 3 in which he said, “We’ve worked in good faith for months to change the status quo. At nearly every turn, we’ve been sidelined or resisted by McCarthy, and any perceived progress has often been vague or contained loopholes that further amplified concerns as to the sincerity of the promises being made.”
McCarthy emerged from Tuesday morning’s meeting by stating, “I’m not going anywhere…We did have an intense conference, and it’s intense for a purpose…We put forth to the American public a commitment to America…For the last two months we worked together as a whole conference to develop rules that empower all members, but we’re not empowering certain members over others. Last night I was presented the only way to have 218 votes if I provided certain members with certain positions, certain gavels…and they even came to the position where one, Matt Gaetz, said, ‘I don’t care if we go to plurality and we elect Hakeem Jeffries if it hurts the new frontline members not to get re-elected.”