WATCH: Voices Raised and Obscenities Hurled During Tense House GOP Meeting
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY…
1941: U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt makes his “Four Freedoms” speech (freedom of speech and worship; freedom from want and fear) during his State of Union address.
Tensions rose during a meeting between Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives this week as the party determined the next House Speaker.
Current House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) reasserted his competence for the role of Speaker to his colleagues who oppose him. CNN’s Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju, who was present on Capitol Hill, said McCarthy raised his voice and exclaimed, “I have earned this job!”
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) responded: “Bulls—t!”
The decision over who to vote for as House Speaker has caused a rift within the GOP, but Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) said that McCarthy’s supporters will be “more stubborn” than his detractors.
“This handful of members are very clearly looking for notoriety over principle,” Crenshaw told Raju. “And anyone who suggests differently is in some kind of make-believe fantasy reality.”
Crenshaw continued, saying that, “they lost those debates, and that should’ve been the end of it.” But, “if you’re a narcissist and you believe your opinion is so much more important than everyone else’s and you’ll threaten to test down the team for the benefit of the Democrats just because of your own sense of self-importance.”
“We will not vote for anyone else other than McCarthy,” Crenshaw said. “These people think they’re stubborn; we’re more stubborn.”
“They are enemies now. They have made it clear they prefer a Democrat agenda over a Republican one,” he said.
Ultimately, the House GOP was unable to elect a new speaker on Tuesday. McCarthy failed to secure the 218 votes he needed to secure the top job in the chamber. It marked the first time in a century that a speaker wasn’t elected on the first round, according to USA Today.
Lawmakers returned to the Capitol on Wednesday, where McCarthy lost a fourth bid to become Speaker of the House.
What now?
The plan is for members to vote again, and again, if necessary. But if there’s no resolution, the voting could go on for days, weeks, or months.
The situation has left the chamber in limbo, as no new House member can be sworn in and no rules can be adopted until a speaker is selected.