The House will be dealing this week — still — with the question of selecting a new Speaker following weeks of Republican failures to put someone in the position following the removal of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
Democrats have long shown themselves to be open to a bipartisan arrangement to get the House a Speaker and get the legislative chamber moving again, but Republicans keep rebuffing them… and rebuffing themselves, considering two formal selections from the House GOP for Speaker votes on the floor have failed specifically amid too high levels of opposition from within the GOP. Now, there were nine GOP contenders for Speaker as of Monday, including quickly infamous Trump ally Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.). Donalds is in only his second full term in the House, representing an area in the southwestern parts of Florida.
“I think it helps to know where all the bathrooms are before you run for the U.S. House of Representatives, personally,” Ocasio-Cortez quipped, referring to Donalds’ Speaker ambitions. “And I think it helps to have some real experience in one of the most complex legislative bodies in the world before you try to run it.”
Yet, Donalds was accumulating endorsements from House Republicans as the week started. His first were from fellow House Republicans from his state, including Cory Mills, another member known for political closeness with Trump. Mills replaced Stephanie Murphy, known as a moderate Democrat. Her district was significantly reshaped in the routine redistricting process. Donalds, meanwhile, was among those who voted against the full certification in Congress of Joe Biden’s 2020 win, and he’s also among the House Republicans on the chamber’s Oversight Committee intensely pushing along their impeachment inquiry targeting the president… when they have a chance to pursue that wild goose chase in the time they’re not spending on Speaker votes!
Ocasio-Cortez’s remarks are viewable below:
AOC: Donalds has only served one term. The last thing that he did in The Oversight Committees was attempt to submit falsified evidence. I think it helps to have some real experience in one of the most complex legislative bodies in the world before you try to run it pic.twitter.com/yP7jwGS3Lg
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 23, 2023
