Former Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., told Newsmax on Friday that Republicans need to coalesce behind one person to become speaker because they can't continue to govern without one.
The House has been without a speaker since Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted in a historic motion to vacate vote on Oct. 3. Since then, it has struggled to back a challenger. On Friday, the House nominated Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who defeated Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., a McCarthy backer, 124-81, after a closed-door conference vote.
"Right now, there's a state of chaos down there," King told "American Agenda." "The Republicans have to get their act together. We can't go on without a speaker. Republicans control only one [chamber] in the Congress, and now we can't control it, so they have to get a speaker. They have to get behind one person, and this has never happened before, so this is totally uncharted waters."
Jordan will now have to muster 217 votes to become speaker, something Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., could not do after being nominated earlier this week and before dropping out of the race late Thursday. Because of the GOP's slim 221-212 majority in the House, five holdouts can sink anyone's quest to be speaker.
King said it's going to be tough for Jordan to get the 217 votes because "the Scalise people are probably going to take it out on Jordan — the fact that Steve didn't get it."
"They've got to get their act together very quickly," King said.
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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