Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX.) criticized House Republicans for their failure to elect a Speaker Tuesday after multiple ballots, The Hill reports.
Nineteen far-right members of the House Republican conference are strictly oppose to House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy becoming Speaker. With a narrow 222-212 majority, McCarthy can only lose four votes.
All 19 McCarthy detractors are uniting behind Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who happens to be supporting McCarthy. Jordan picked up an additional vote after Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) switched his vote from McCarthy on the third ballot.
“Don’t they realize how embarrassing this is?” Cornyn asked when told about the 20 lawmakers supporting Jordan. “Is that possible, that people think about that?”
The chaos on Tuesday portends the problems ahead in the GOP controlled House and left Cornyn wondering about whether Republicans can actually get anything done in the next two years. There are several key votes coming up this year including raising the nation’s debt limit to avoid a default and passing appropriation bills.
“If it’s this hard to elect a Speaker, imagine how hard it’s going to be to pass any legislation,” Cornyn told the Hill. “The question is, ‘How do they land the plane?’ and I’m not sure there’s any obvious answer.”
“This is just further evidence of how difficult in this divided Congress it’s going to be to pass legislation,” another GOP senator who wishes to remain anonymous told the Hill.
The House adjourned on Tuesday without electing a speaker for the first time in a century. Voting will resume Wednesday at noon on a fourth ballot.
[Featured Image: Greg Nash]
