McConnell hopes House will appoint next speaker soon: ‘A poor message to our allies’

October 22, 2023 01:59 PM

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Sunday he hopes Republicans in the House appoint a speaker soon because it sends a “poor message” to the nation’s allies and its enemies.

“I hope they can get a speaker sometime soon because it does send a poor message to our allies and our enemies around the world,” McConnell said during an interview with Fox News Sunday, adding, “I’m pulling for them to finally wrap this up sometime soon.”

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks to reporters following a closed-door caucus meeting about preventing a government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. McConnell is urging his House colleagues to consider the Senate’s stopgap approach that keeps funding at current levels, along with bolstered money for Ukraine and U.S. disaster relief, and move off the shutdown strategy. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Nineteen days after a handful of Republicans in the House voted to oust then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the party has been unable to fill his seat, fueling frustration among lawmakers and Republican constituents across the country.

McConnell’s input on the speaker’s fight came in a wide-ranging discussion that included his support of President Joe Biden‘s $106 billion proposal to send aid to Israel and Ukraine, breaking with some of his fellow Senate GOP colleagues who have called for a package separating assistance for the two countries.

“I think the Biden administration sent the wrong signal, and they had the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan — I think that was like giving a green light to Putin to go into Ukraine,” McConnell said, saying when it comes to efforts to support Israel and Ukraine, “it’s all connected.”

In order to pass any plan to fund both Ukraine and Israel, the House must first agree on a speaker.

“And so this is an emergency. It’s an emergency that we step up and deal with this axis of evil. China, Russia, Iran, because it’s an immediate threat to the United States,” McConnell added.

Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich also spoke with Fox’s Shannon Bream on Sunday, saying he would “urge the House Republicans” not to break the 1865 record that took two months and 103 ballots to appoint a speaker of the House.

“They can’t just play rope-a-dope. They’ve got to start from victory. Who can get to 217? That’s the person who ought to be speaker, and trying to start from ‘let me pick my favorite and see if they can get to 217′” could last even more weeks, Gingrich said.

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The deadline to declare candidacy for speaker was noon on Sunday. Those running for the nomination include Republican Reps. Jack Bergman (MI), Byron Donalds (FL), Tom Emmer (MN), Kevin Hern (OK), Mike Johnson (LA), Dan Meuser (PA), Gary Palmer (AL), Austin Scott (GA), and Pete Sessions (TX).

Acting Speaker Patrick McHenry has said the “goal” is to have the next Speaker election on the floor on Tuesday.