House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) called for Republicans to “get their act together” and elect the next Speaker while slamming the “extremists” within their party.
Jeffries joined PBS NewsHour from inside the Capitol on Thursday night after Speaker-designate Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) withdrew his name from consideration for the role.
Scalise was chosen as the Republican nominee in a secret ballot Wednesday but faced pushback from several members. It later became apparent that he would struggle to earn the 217 votes necessary on the House floor.
“That’s why it’s so urgently necessary that the Republicans get their act together and elect the Speaker from within their own ranks, as it is the responsibility of the majority party to do so, or have traditional Republicans break with the extremists within the House Republican Conference and partner with Democrats on a bipartisan path forward,” Jeffries said.
Jeffries said Democrats are ready, willing and able to move forward on a bipartisan agreement on who would become the next Speaker, they just await Republican support.
“I know there are traditional Republicans who are good women and men who want to see government function, but they are unable to do it within the ranks of their own conference, which is dominated by the extremist wing,” Jeffries said.
Several far-right members who helped initiate former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) ousting have continued to oppose solutions offered by the party. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), for example, said she voted for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) in the secret ballot, saying she likes Scalise but wants to see him focus on defeating cancer, which he announced as “very treatable” in August.
Jeffries acknowledged the GOP division and said, “That’s why we continue to extend the hand of bipartisanship to them.”
Democrats may nominate Jeffries as their pick for Speaker, potentially placing him in a race to 217 votes against whomever the GOP ultimately decides to send to the House floor.