Jeffries says it’s not Democrats’ job to ‘save the Republicans from their dysfunction’
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Incoming Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said it isn’t Democrats’ job to help Republicans out of their speakership dilemma after the first day of the 118th Congress ended without a speaker of the House being elected.
Jeffries deflected when questioned if his party would use the chaos across the aisle to its advantage and work with centrist Republicans to change rules or vote for a consensus candidate. All House Democrats voted for Jeffries for speaker, which requires a 218-vote majority, while House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) ended with 202 votes and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) with 20.
MCCARTHY’S FIVE BIGGEST RULES CONCESSIONS IN BID TO BECOME SPEAKER
“We’re looking for a willing partner to solve problems for the American people, not save the Republicans from their dysfunction,” Jeffries said at a brief press conference Tuesday evening.
Some centrist Republicans have floated the idea of working with Democrats to nominate a consensus candidate if the GOP can’t overcome the impasse between Jordan’s and McCarthy’s supporters. Jeffries said Democrats “haven’t had any outreach” from the Republican side.
Democrats could also push to change the rules such that a plurality rather than a majority is needed to become speaker, but Jeffries wouldn’t say if this was something he would consider. If that rule were to change, Jeffries could become speaker if Republicans still couldn’t unify.
The House voted to adjourn until Wednesday at noon after three roll call votes failed to produce a speaker. McCarthy has said he has no plans to back down despite needing 16 of his detractors to change their minds. Jordan nominated McCarthy and said he does not want the position, but this didn’t stop Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) on the third ballot from joining a group of 19 conservatives to back Jordan over McCarthy.
The GOP will take the rest of the night and morning to discuss the path forward.
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McCarthy’s major concessions to the conservatives aligned with the House Freedom Caucus haven’t won him enough friends to solve his math problem. His opponents see him as too establishment and say he hasn’t shown effective leadership during his years in the upper echelons of the GOP.
The House will continue roll call votes until someone crosses the majority vote threshold.
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Tags: House Democrats, Speaker of the House, Hakeem Jeffries, Kevin McCarthy, Congress, Washington D.C.
Original Author: Virginia Aabram
Original Location: Jeffries says it’s not Democrats’ job to ‘save the Republicans from their dysfunction’