Rep. Van Orden Slams Rep. Roy Over Speaker Vote

Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., blasted his fellow Republican colleague in the House this week, saying Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, is more interested in his "brand" than in America.

On Friday at noon, the House will vote to select a speaker, yet Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., is missing just enough votes from within the GOP to disrupt his bid to maintain his speakership. Among them is Roy who has been making the media rounds saying that he and other Republican holdouts are still undecided. President-elect Donald Trump has put his support behind Johnson.

"I remain undecided, as do a number of my colleagues, because we saw so many of the failures last year that we are concerned about that might limit or inhibit our ability to advance the president's agenda," Roy said in an interview.

Van Orden pushed back via social media, reminding Roy that it was Trump who won the nation's popular vote and not the congressman from Texas.

"@realDonaldTrump received a mandate from the American people in November. @chiproytx did not. It is the America First Agenda, not the Chip Roy First Agenda. It is Make America Great Again, not make Chip Roy Great. President Trump is fighting for America, Chip is fighting to keep his brand marketable," Van Orden posted on X.

"Some people apparently need to understand that in order to be a Leader, you have to learn how to follow first. I would love to work with Chip, but he needs to understand he can be part of the Team, but there is no way in hell he is the Captain. The Captain will be moving back into the White House shortly, and his 1st Lieutenant is @SpeakerJohnson," he added.

For his part, Johnson is confident that his Republican colleagues will eventually come together and support him, noting a speaker is needed to certify Trump's election victory. "We have to certify the election of President Donald J. Trump on Jan. 6, on Monday. And we have many important things pressing on us right now, so there's no time to waste. We have to stay unified," Johnson said.

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