Nikki Haley says ‘there is no time to waste’ in finding next Speaker

Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley pushed the House to elect a speaker sooner rather than later.

Haley appeared on Meet the Press on Sunday, days after Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was ousted from his position as speaker. Now, the House of Representatives is left without a leader and thus incapable of holding a vote on its floor. Meanwhile, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) is the current speaker pro tempore as the acting replacement for McCarthy but is limited in his authority per the Constitution.

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“I would remind Republicans that, you know, don’t chase Democrat chaos with Republican chaos. We need to come together,” Haley said. “We need to get united and focused on the issues facing us, and there is no time to waste.”

Haley expressed sympathy at the war between Israel and Hamas beginning Saturday. Hamas fired thousands of rockets and also sent dozens of fighters into Israel on Simchat Torah, a Jewish holiday celebrating the annual cycle of the Torah scroll reading. The resulting death toll is roughly 200, while an increasing number of people in the area are being captured. A counter-strike by Israel into Palestine reached a proportional death toll there as well.

“Look at what happened in Israel. They waited for them to be distracted, and that’s when your enemies move in,” Haley said. “America needs to wake up. We need to put this negativity and division behind us, and we need to focus on national security for ourselves and for our friends and start thinking about what it’s going to take to get America strong again.”

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Haley expressed hopes that Congress would focus on national security and the border when it has a speaker at its head again.

The former ambassador is facing off against former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former governor to New Jersey Chris Christie, former Texas representative Will Hurd, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND), Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), political commentator Larry Elder, businessman Perry Johnson, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy in the race to win the GOP presidential nomination.