Freedom Caucus: House Must Stay in Washington Until Speaker Elected

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., speaks in front of members of the House Freedom Caucus during a n
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
Bradley Jaye

House Republicans will remain in Washington until they elect a Speaker if the Freedom Caucus gets its way.

The conservative group announced an official position Monday morning urging Republican leadership to keep its members in the capital until a Speaker is elected.

“Republican leadership should have kept Republicans in Washington over the weekend. Our work is not done,” a Caucus statement reads. “In fact, we are starting at ground zero after Jim Jordan, arguably one of the most popular Republicans in the country, was rejected by House Republicans.”

Many members opposing Jordan justified their opposition with claims that he would never win the gavel and that the House needed to get “back to work,” even encouraging the House to expedite voting:

However, in an action undermining the sincerity of those claims, moments after removing Jordan as the conference’s nominee by secret ballot Friday, the conference recessed through the weekend until a Monday night candidate forum:

The Freedom Caucus’s official position disagrees with conference leadership’s decision to take a weekend off. “We must proceed with all possible speed and determination,” the statement says:

The Caucus called to end these “intentional and unnecessary delays, asserting that “it serves only the lobbyists of the swamp and defenders of the status quo to continue to drag out this process.”

Its statement closes, “The Speaker Pro Tempore and Republican leadership must keep Republicans in Washington as long as it takes and proceed with electing the new Speaker of the House without delay.”

Conference is scheduled to reconvene Monday evening at 6:00 for a candidate forum, with voting set to begin Tuesday.

Nine candidates have qualified to run for Speaker.

RELATED — Kevin McCarthy: Jim Jordan No Longer Nominee for Speaker of the House After Vote

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Follow Bradley Jaye on Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.

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