(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Three Florida GOP members remain opposed to Kevin McCarthy for Speaker as saga goes into Day Two [1] ['Mitch Perry', 'More From Author', '- January'] Date: 2023-01-04 Congressional Republicans will convene at noon to try to elect a speaker of the House of Representatives after presumptive favorite Kevin McCarthy of California failed to win a majority in three roll call votes on the first day of the 118th Congress — and Floridians are very much in the mix. Matt Gaetz of Fort Walton Beach, Anna Tuesday Paulina Luna of St. Petersburg, and Byron Donalds of Naples joined 17 other conservative GOP members on Tuesday to oppose McCarthy from taking the top job in the House. Gaetz and Luna opposed him in the first two roll call votes and Donalds joined them in the third and final vote of the day. McCarthy’s critics have mentioned a number of reasons why they oppose his speakership. Gaetz specifically has criticized McCarthy for not blocking Democrats from passing budget bills and not doing more to hold accountable government officials who opposed former President Donald Trump. Their opposition is infuriating some of their own Florida GOP colleagues, such as Congressman Michael Waltz of North Central Florida, who tweeted this morning: “The Republican agenda is being held hostage. We must UNITE behind McCarthy & get to work.” After the first roll call vote for McCarthy fell short, Gaetz nominated Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan to become the next speaker. However, Jordan supports McCarthy. Waltz tweeted this morning, “I spoke with Rep. Jordan last night and he confirmed with me that he doesn’t want to be Speaker of the House. He wants to take on Big Tech & FBI reform. Let’s get to work!” Gaetz has been the most outspoken Florida Republican against McCarthy, going as far as to write to the head of the federal agency responsible for operations at the Capitol on Tuesday to ask how long McCarthy would be allowed to occupy the Speaker’s Office. Squatter? “What is the basis in law, House rule, or precedent to allow someone who has placed second in three successive speaker elections to occupy the Speaker of the House Office? How long will he remain there before he is considered a squatter?” Gaetz wrote in his letter to Architect of the Capitol Brett Blanton. Another McCarthy supporter is former President Trump, who wrote today on his Truth Social account that it was time for Republican House members to “VOTE FOR KEVIN.” “Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB — JUST WATCH!” Trump wrote. In response, Gaetz tweeted this morning that Trump’s support for McCarthy “is the worst Human Resources decision President Trump has ever made. Sad!” Donalds told the National Desk (a daily news program produced by the Sinclair Broadcasting Group) Wednesday morning that the protracted debate in the Republican caucus was actually “very healthy,” but he could not name an alternative House Republican candidate who could get the 218 votes required to lead in the House of Representatives, where Republicans have just a 10-member advantage, 222-212. “What it demonstrates is that Republicans actually take leadership seriously,” Donalds said about the battle for House Speaker. “It’s not something that’s just tossed around quickly for a quick deal and a handshake. It’s something that we’re going to have that dialogue because at the end of the day it’s about representing the voters who sent us here. It’s about getting America back on track.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/01/04/three-florida-gop-members-remain-opposed-to-kevin-mccarthy-for-speaker-as-saga-goes-into-day-two/ Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/