Where Montana’s Reps Stand, Speaker Battle Goes to Another Round
"The choice is Kevin McCarthy or chaos." That's what former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich had to say concerning a handful of US House Republicans who are voting against Kevin McCarthy- including Congressman Matt Rosendale (R-MT02) who represents the Eastern District of Montana in Congress.
Shortly before noon Mountain Time on Tuesday, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) failed to secure 218 votes during the first round of voting to be selected as Speaker of the House. As a result, the vote went to another round for the first time since 1923. (See the latest results by clicking on the Fox News LIVE tracker here)
McCarthy is backed by former President Trump, Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan, and other leading conservative figures like Mark Levin.
A handful of Republicans from the Freedom Caucus, like Montana's Rosendale, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) are opposing McCarthy largely over a desire to change the House rules. (Click here for our initial chat back in November)
Rosendale joined Lawrence Jones on Fox & Friends during a testy exchange where Jones asked Rosendale what the backup plan was.
Rep. Rosendale: We gave Kevin McCarthy opportunities over the last two years to demonstrate leadership skills, whether it was the CR, the NDAA, the so called infrastructure bill- we put him in a position where he could have negotiated some common sense reforms, and he failed on every measure. We presented him, many of us did, with rule amendments that we wanted to try and implement months ago, and he refused to speak with us.
According to a statement shared with the Montana Television Network, Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT01), who now represents the Western District of Montana in Congress is backing McCarthy.
“The Biden administration is a disaster, the Senate has a spending problem, and the last line of freedom is the House,” he said. “McCarthy won a super majority of Republican members and is supported by President Trump and Jim Jordan. On January 3rd, when the vote is cast, those opposed are either with us or they are against a Republican majority.”