By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves says he’s “extremely disappointed” and frustrated by the vote to remove California Congressman Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the United States House.
Graves says the House Republican Caucus must overcome the disruption, settle on the next Speaker, and get back to business.
“It’s a mess at the moment,” Graves tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post during an in-studio interview. “We’re going through this process of picking a new Speaker and everybody’s kind of jockeying for that position and making calls; the two front-runners being Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise.”
Graves backs Scalise, the House Majority Leader, saying he would be able to maintain the momentum created by McCarthy.
Congressman Jordan from Ohio chairs the House Judiciary Committee, the subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, and the Oversight and Accountability Committee.
Other Republicans testing the waters include House Minority Whip, Tom Emmer of Minnesota, who actually called Graves during the interview; Acting Speaker Patrick McHenry of North Carolina; Congressman Tom Cole of Oklahoma; Congressman Mike Johnson of Louisiana; and Congressman Jodey Arrington of Texas.
This all started after four-term Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida made a motion to vacate the Speaker’s chair. Gaetz accused McCarthy of working with Democrats to pass a spending measure to avoid a federal government shutdown. The package failed to contain the budget cuts the House Freedom Caucus sought. Gaetz and seven other Republicans voted with the entire Democratic Caucus to remove McCarthy as Speaker on a 216-210 vote.
Graves, though, accuses Gaetz of moving to oust Speaker McCarthy for purely personal reasons.
“He’s just got a personal vendetta against Kevin McCarthy and that’s what this was all about,” according to Graves. “It’s a personal vendetta against Kevin and he was willing to do anything he could to hurt him.”
Graves backed McCarthy, saying he has done a great job as Speaker, including reaching a deal to keep the government open. Graves also praised McCarthy’s ability to raise money for Republican Congressional candidates.
Former Republican President Donald Trump has come out in support of Jordan as the new Speaker. Trump even volunteered to serve in the role of Speaker for the next 90 days. Graves says Trump’s support of Jordan is having mixed results.
“I’ve talked to people that as a result of the president endorsing him, now they’re no longer supporting Jim. The flip side to that is some now have come over to Jim’s side,” Graves says. “It’ll be interesting to see how that works out within the conference and if it will have an impact.”
Graves, the senior member of the Missouri Congressional delegation, didn’t foresee a successful vote to remove the Speaker of the House.
“I didn’t. I really didn’t. I’ve seen a lot in my time in Washington, a lot of historic moments,” but Graves says he didn’t see this one coming. “And it’s unfortunate. It’s unfortunate for the country.”