For this North Texan freshman in Congress, it hasn’t exactly been the week she expected
Jasmine Crockett had a different vision for her first week as a congresswoman in Washington.
Sure, the newly elected representative from Dallas expected challenges — like making sure printers and phones are working. Instead, she’s been “essentially living” on the floor of the U.S. House as lawmakers vote, vote again, and again, and again, to elect a House speaker.
Crockett is a freshman Democrat who replaces Eddie Bernice Johnson in the U.S. House. The longtime North Texas representative didn’t seek reelection. Crockett’s House District 30 includes a small part of southeast Tarrant County. She’s one of seven members of Texas’ freshman congressional class.
“It’s definitely been a lot less productive than I would have hoped,” Crockett said of her first few days in Washington. “I have been waiting to kind of get into the seat and get to work, and unfortunately, my work has been stunted.”
Since Tuesday, House members have been voting on who should serve as speaker. Republican Kevin McCarthy of California has been supported by most Republicans, and Democrat Hakeem Jeffries of New York by most Democrats. But some Republicans have put their support behind other candidates, blocking McCarthy from obtaining the votes needed.
McCarthy on Friday picked up the support of some defectors who’d previously supported other candidates, including three Texans: Republicans Chip Roy, Michael Cloud and Keith Self.
Self is a freshman representing the Collin and Hunt county area.
As of Friday afternoon, the House was adjourned until 10 p.m. ET, according to Politico.
“Hopefully they’re taking this time to get a few more votes, since they’re bringing us back at 10 tonight,” Crockett said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we got sworn in, in the dead of night.”
Crockett, who is a former Texas House representative from Dallas, said she had well over 100 people — friends and family — who came to watch her get sworn in. She said Friday that her father would soon catch his flight out of town, and her mom was scheduled to leave on Sunday.
“I imagine that we may have a break of 30 minutes max for people to try and gather their friends and family if they’re still in town and try to get them into the Capitol for our swearing in,” Crockett said.
That’s if McCarthy is able to get enough votes by the night’s end.
It wasn’t lost on Crockett that Friday marked two years since the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol building.
“To have conversations with older members and they say ‘how’s it going,’ and I’m like, ‘It’s a bit crazy and chaotic right now,’ and they say, ‘well, at least it’s not an insurrection.’ The fact that, that is the bar is beyond problematic,” she said. “We are not getting better in this country, right now. We are getting worse.”
Crockett said she’s been disappointed but not discouraged.
“I can’t get discouraged because it is the hopefulness in me that keeps me going,” she said. “It is the hopefulness in the hearts and the minds of my constituents that make me know that I’ve got to get up and I’ve got to fight toe-to-toe to get us back to where we’re supposed to be in this country.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2023 at 5:31 PM.
