Representative Ken Buck (R-CO) said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Katy Tur Reports” that he was confident House Republicans will elect a speaker before the stopgap spending bill ends on November 17.
Tur said, “What is going on with your party that the person who does a constitutional thing by certifying a vote that somebody won fair and square can’t be the speaker?”
Buck said, “I tell you, I certified the vote also, and I don’t want to be speaker, but I do think Tom has done the right thing consistently. He’s one of the those folks that is very honest, very forthright, and I thought he would have a good chance because of that because you know exactly where he stands on every issue. It is the way it is right now. We have to overcome this issue.”
Tur said, “So if it can’t be Emmer, can’t be Scalise, can’t be Jordan, can’t be McCarthy, who can it be?”
Buck said, “It can be perhaps Mike Johnson, perhaps Byron Donald. There were a number of people on the ballot that did well.”
He added, “I think we go back to the drawing board and figure out who the next person up is and then give that person the chance to talk to the folks that are opposing him.”
Tur said, “Are you confident that come 13 working days from now the government will stay open? That there will be a speaker to put legislation to the player?”
Buck said, “I am confident of that, and before 13 days from now. What I am confident of is that we will either elect a speaker like Tom Emmer or we will elect somebody on the temporary basis to make sure we get through this period where we have to deal with a potential government shutdown, where we have to deal with a potential bill coming over from the senate involving Ukraine, Israel, border security and Pacific Rim supplemental funding.”
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