If you’re a Republican, you probably don’t know what to make of what happened in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday — but it was theatrical. And earning a starring role was our very own Chip Roy, the Austin-based Congressman, who represents the 21st District, which includes Kerr County.
Roy made a series of fiery speeches, including nominating Rep. Jim Jordan as Speaker of the House, in a fight over who would lead the House. The one expected to lead the party is Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California), who has been in this position before becoming Speaker of the House only to see conservative hardliners block that effort.
On Tuesday, it was Democrat Hakeem Jeffries who garnered the most votes as the Republicans warred with themselves over leadership, with Roy firmly in the middle of the spat.
How the Republicans will extricate themselves from the party warfare will be interesting to observe. Still, Roy dismissed the drama by suggesting most Americans don’t care about the nuance of electing leadership. That might be a miscalculation because why would Roy be getting so much attention if the American people weren’t interested?
Roy argued that McCarthy represented the party’s status quo and that the people expected a different kind of leader.
“I want the tools or I want the leadership to stop the swamp from running over the average American every single day,” said Roy, who has taken on a more vitriolic and combative approach since gerrymandering assured him a safe seat. While always aligned with the hardline Freedom Caucus, Roy has lived in the shadow of more attention-grabbing characters like Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene, Arizona’s Paul Gossar, Colorado’s Lauren Boebert and Florida’s Matt Gaetz. However, on Tuesday, Roy moved to the front of the line with an effort that had him trending on Twitter and pushing back against a McCarthy speakership on Fox News.
Roy released his own statement on Twitter about his expectations: “Americans are sick & tired of the swamp and sent us here to change it — not to embrace the status quo. Our demands are simple: we want the tools to put a check the swamp — in committees, in the rules committee, & the floor — & the leadership willing to do it. #StandUpForAmerica.”
It’s those committee spots and rules that McCarthy is unwilling to give to the Freedom Caucus.
Read more about Chip Roy’s day here: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/01/03/chip-roy-us-house-speaker-kevin-mccarthy/
