Texas Republican: Speaker vote ‘only the beginning’ of ‘rough and rowdy’ House

The chaotic Speaker’s election was “only the beginning” of a “rough and rowdy” session in the House of Representatives, according to Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who on Sunday blasted Republicans who delayed the selection of the Speaker as the “insurgency caucus.”

“The House of Representatives is a rough and rowdy place,” Gonzales said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “This is only the beginning … Republicans are much different than Democrats. We’re not just going to line up and jump off the cliff.”

Gonzales, who supported Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif), said the vote for Speaker is the easiest vote that the House will take. The second-easiest, he said, is the vote for the House rules package, which he plans to oppose.

Gonzales said he does not plan to support the rules package that is scheduled for a vote on Monday. One of the main reasons, he said, is because it includes a possible drastic cut in defense spending.

“Which I think is a horrible idea,” Gonzales said. “When you have aggressive Russia in Ukraine, you have a growing threat of China in the Pacific.”

But Gonzales said he wasn’t whipping other lawmakers into voting against the package.