Texas Senator John Cornyn on U.S. House speaker vote: Kevin McCarthy is a ‘good choice’
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said he supports California Republican Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives as voting drags on in Washington.
“I think that would be a good, good choice, in my view,” he said. “I support Kevin McCarthy. I don’t get a vote though and neither does anybody else who doesn’t serve in the House, so we’re just left to be spectators and hope that this ends soon so we can get on with the people’s business.”
Wednesday marked day two of voting. McCarthy has repeatedly failed to get enough votes to secure the leadership position, with some Republicans favoring other lawmakers for the role.
Wednesday afternoon, representatives were voting between McCarthy, Florida Republican Byron Donalds and New York Democrat Hakeem Jeffries.
Cornyn, in an interview with the Star-Telegram, called McCarthy a “good, good man” but said he didn’t know whether the representative would win the speakership.
“Sometimes things happen around here as a result of sheer exhaustion,” Cornyn said, asked about a path forward in the speaker’s race. “I don’t know how long this is going to go on. Obviously, Kevin McCarthy’s got some real challenges. I don’t know whether he ultimately will prevail, but ... he’s a good, good man, and I think certainly has worked hard to help Republicans gain the majority, so I’d be very comfortable with him as speaker.”
Cornyn said the Senate and House “value their independence from each other.”
“I’m watching like everybody else is, and I’m hoping that this is resolved soon by the House so they can swear in their new members. They can create the committees and install people like Kay Granger as the chairman of appropriations committee soon. “
Granger, a Fort Worth Republican and ranking member of the committee, is expected to assume the powerful role.
Texas Rep. Chip Roy, an Austin Republican, is among those who’ve opposed McCarthy in his bid for speaker.
This story was originally published January 4, 2023 at 3:33 PM.
CORRECTION: Wednesday was the second day of voting for speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the day of the week.
