(NewsNation) — Tense discussions that lasted hours on the House floor are lingering on after the House adjourned in disarray Tuesday without electing a speaker.
The last time this happened 100 years ago. At the time, Warren G. Harding was president, the first home game in the original Yankee Stadium was played, the first issue of Time magazine came out, Warner Brothers was founded and Canada introduced insulin to treat diabetes.
Lawmakers moved through three rounds of voting Tuesday without coming to an agreement. A total of 218 votes of support out of the 434 House members are needed for a member to become speaker.
Republicans have not reached a consensus about who will lead their majority, paralyzing the vote for House speaker and the chance for Republicans to move forward.
In the last vote before the House adjourned Tuesday, Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) received 202 votes, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) got 212 and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) collected 20 votes from representatives who don’t want to see former minority leader McCarthy slip into the position.
Some GOP lawmakers are frustrated with the infighting, while others want to take their time with the decision.
At least five Republicans don’t want to give McCarthy a clear path to the speakership. Andy Biggs, Matt Gaetz, Ralph Norman, Matt Rosendale and Bob Good led a “Never Kevin” campaign.
“Republicans outside of our group recognize he (McCarthy) doesn’t have the votes. They’ll tell you privately they know he’s a weak leader, he’s not trustworthy, he doesn’t have the fight. He doesn’t have any core convictions,” Good told NewsNation host Leland Vittert.
Good believes Republicans should not rush when selecting a House speaker.
“We shouldn’t be in a hurry to make this decision. If it takes a few days or even a couple of weeks, it’s too important to save the country. The Republic is teetering here on the brink with the border crisis, the energy crisis, a spending crisis, the weakening of our military, the woke-ification of our military, the compromise (of) our education system. So we shouldn’t be in a hurry to get to make a bad decision on a speaker on some artificial timeline,” Good said.
In a Tuesday night interview, Vittert pressed Good about the optics of Republicans fighting among each other.
“We’ve got to have transformational change in Congress. It’s more important than our time and whether or not we’re embarrassed by a few days of discomfort with what’s going on, on the House floor today,” Good replied.
Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly says the mutiny seems to indicate that the Democratic Party is more unified than the Republican Party.
“In a theoretical way, you’d have to say the Republican Party is a healthier situation, right? They have people who disagree within the party, they’re not lockstep, afraid of what might happen to them if they go against the orthodoxy. On the other side of it, you made the point that the optics for the Republican Party are, it’s a party that’s not under control. There is no real leader, and that’s true,” O’Reilly told Vittert.
O’Reilly believes that in the minds of conservatives, McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are intertwined.
“That’s why McCarthy is having such a hard time,” he explained.
As for O’Reilly, he said if he was a GOP lawmaker, he would likely give McCarthy a chance rather than create chaos within the party.
“I would probably give McCarthy a chance. Because Jordan and the other conservatives, they understand that things have to change the Republican Party in order to succeed in the future. It’s got to stop this progressive madness. So you would assume that McCarthy understands that, as well. So, I would probably give the guy a chance rather than blowing up the whole party,” O’Reilly said.
The House is expected to return to session at 11 a.m. Wednesday to continue their discussions.
