The vote for House speaker has always been a partisan vote, with Team Blue lined up on one side and Team Red on the other side.
No rule said it had to be that way. It’s just that no one thought to do it any differently.
Thankfully, a few courageous members of Congress are thinking differently: It’s been reported that a bipartisan deal is coming together that would elevate Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry from Speaker Pro Tempore to House Speaker.
This is the moment for every member of the No Labels community to call or email their member of Congress to let them know you want them to support this deal.
The U.S. House has spent the last two weeks in chaos and appeasing a small band of extremists with no plan and no vision to get Congress functioning again. Yesterday, another Republican speaker nominee, Rep. Jim Jordan, failed to get enough votes from Republicans to become speaker.
So now, House members have two choices. They can keep forcing a vote on Jordan, the handpicked candidate of the far right.
Or: They can think and do different.
Skeptics will say this has never been done. But I have a simple rejoinder to that: Conditions have changed.
The world is getting more dangerous by the day in the wake of Hamas’ horrific terrorist attack against Israel. Here at home, our government is approaching another shutdown by the middle of next month.
None of these challenges can be addressed until the House has a speaker. There is no more time for partisan games or posturing, and now more than ever, the House needs a capable captain at the helm.
We need leaders to lead. We need them to think new and do new. That means we need a speaker elected with bipartisan support.
Please contact your member of Congress today to let them know you support a bipartisan deal to elevate Patrick McHenry to speaker of the House.
