Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., one of the holdouts against voting for Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as the next House speaker, Thursday threw former President Donald Trump's name into the mix.
Gaetz's change of heart, which comes as a break from the faction of 20 House Republicans who had been voting for his fellow Florida Republican Rep. Byron Donalds does nothing to change McCarthy's numbers, but still blocks him from having the majority needed to win the speakership.
The Constitution does not require the eventual speaker to be a sitting member of Congress, even though throughout the country's history that has been the case.
Meanwhile, Trump has endorsed McCarthy for speaker, including making a statement through his Truth Social page Wednesday calling on the holdout faction to come to an agreement.
"Sad! This changes neither my view of McCarthy nor Trump nor my vote," Gaetz, a Trump ally, responded to Trump's call.
The former president Wednesday further said "intense but smart negotiations between GREAT and PATRIOTIC people are ongoing."
McCarthy netted 201 votes, all from Republicans; Donalds brought in 19 votes, from the McCarthy dissidents. Democrat Rep. Hakeem Jeffries got 212 votes, all from Democrats, and Trump got the lone vote from Gaetz. Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., simply voted "present."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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