Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are scheduled to vote today on their next nominee to be the Speaker of the House.
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) currently represents Central Texas and has decided not to run for the Speaker position. Sessions made the announcement after a candidates' forum last night, ahead of another secret ballot today. Sessions says he's confident that a winner will emerge.
All of the people running for the position meet with Republican Party members in Washington Monday night to outline their vision for the party and stress their qualifications. Rep. Sessions reminded the newer members about his service to the party in different leadership roles.
"I served as Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, when we elected 89 new Republicans in 2010, 63 net new members of Congress," he said, "Secondly, as Chairman of the House Rules Committee, we moved a Republican agenda forward that made economic sense. We held discretionary spending flat for eight years. I considered those important aspects and told the conference about that."
Rep. Sessions was glad that Republicans got to hear from all of the candidates seeking the nomination.
"I felt like it was a good opportunity for our membership to see that we've got to get to the point where we can support one of these nominees, whoever it is, because we need to make sure that we move forward with our duties in Congress," he said.
The person who eventually becomes Speaker will have to deal with sharp divisions between Republicans and Democrats, but also between different factions of the Republican Party.
"It is a difficult circumstance," said Rep. Sessions. "It's up to Republicans to state how we would want to fix the country. It is an easy thing for Republicans, because we support not just American exceptionalism, but capitalism - that has been the greatest definer of through their life successfully. It's a matter of how Republicans are going to focus on passing their bills. I think we're going to be able to prove our case next November."
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Tell your Smart Speaker to "PLAY 1080 KRLD"
Sign Up to receive our KRLD Insider Newsletter for more news
Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube