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  • 2 years ago
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) spoke about selecting a House speaker on Thursday.
Transcript
00:00 What was the need to have these side efforts?
00:02 I think it was to air grievances and have everybody talk,
00:06 and we've been doing that for a while.
00:08 I just made -- I know I was the first one to speak.
00:11 I just made the conference aware
00:13 that we're living in a dangerous world.
00:16 The world's on fire.
00:17 Our adversaries are watching what we do,
00:20 and quite frankly, they like it.
00:21 And Chairman Xi talks about how democracy doesn't work,
00:26 and we're proving him right, and we need to fill the chair.
00:29 With a speaker, every day that goes by, it gets more dangerous.
00:34 You know, I was on the phone with our friends from Israel.
00:36 They're going to need a supplemental,
00:38 an aid to replenish the Iron Dome,
00:41 but they can't do that if we don't have a speaker in the chair.
00:43 So I see a lot of threats out there,
00:45 but one of the biggest threats I see is in that room
00:48 because we can't unify as a conference
00:49 and put a speaker in the chair to govern.
00:51 I can't get my resolution of 416 co-sponsors condemning Israel --
00:56 I mean, condemning Hamas and supporting Israel
01:00 without a speaker in the chair.
01:02 I can't get that supplemental aid to Israel
01:05 without a speaker in the chair.
01:08 So it's very dangerous what we're doing,
01:10 and I just wanted them to know that.
01:11 You know, we're playing with fire.
01:15 -Do you -- -Can you give us a sense
01:17 of what the tangible conversation points
01:19 are in that room, not just grievances,
01:21 but, like, should Scalise drop out?
01:23 Is Jim Jordan still in contention?
01:24 Just some of the actual --
01:26 -I mean, there's talk about -- I mean,
01:30 they're airing these grievances, but at the end of the day,
01:33 we elected the speaker-designee, and, you know,
01:37 we may just have to bring it to the floor
01:39 and have another episode like we had with McCarthy.
01:42 I don't really know if he's going to get
01:45 the requisite votes right now.
01:47 -So what are you asking that happens today?
01:50 -I think they'll be in that room for quite some time.
01:53 -Do you think the momentum has been Scalise's favor,
01:55 or has it shifted toward Congressman Jordan?
01:58 -I mean, you know, Jim went to the mic
02:00 and reiterated his support for Steve Scalise.
02:04 So, you know, he's basically letting his supporters
02:07 get on over to Steve.
02:09 You know, I've been up here 20 years.
02:10 I've never seen anything like this.
02:12 First in history, we've never seen a vacate of the chair,
02:16 but usually when we vote on a speaker-designee,
02:19 it goes to the floor, and there's not an issue.
02:22 So I just was trying to make the point how dangerous this is
02:27 because we can't govern without a speaker,
02:30 and it runs in the face of democracy.
02:33 -One more question.
02:34 -Will the Israelis say when --
02:38 What is the timeline on which you're going to have to pass?
02:42 -I've been in touch with the administration.
02:44 I mean, we're talking weeks.
02:46 -Weeks. -Yeah.
02:47 And we can't drag this out any longer.
02:49 -Thanks, guys. Thank you.
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