Most of the eight conservative lawmakers who booted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy said they are willing to accept punishment for their rebellion against the conference if that’s the price for electing Rep. Jim Jordan to speaker.
The lawmakers offered to sacrifice themselves if that would convince holdouts to vote for Mr. Jordan — including offering to be expelled from the House Republican Conference.
They made the offer in in a letter to their colleagues that was released Friday shortly after Mr. Jordan’s third failed attempt at securing the gavel. They said their punishment also could include censure or suspension.
“The actions we took were never about us — they were to change Washington for the better,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to colleagues. “The House now needs a Speaker, and we have a Speaker-Designate in Jim Jordan of Ohio.”
The letter includes the names of seven of the eight who ousted Mr. McCarthy: Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Matt Rosendale of Montana, Eli Crane of Arizona, Tim Burchett of Tennessee, Bob Good of Virginia and Andy Biggs of Arizona.
The eighth GOP rebel, Ken Buck of Colorado, had his name removed from the letter. He has consistently voted against Mr. Jordan this week in the House speaker elections.
SEE ALSO: Jim Jordan defeated again in a third ballot for House speaker as GOP support decreases
Mr. Jordan, who won the speaker nomination from the Republican conference, has now lost three rounds of voting, each time losing more support. Friday’s vote saw 25 Republicans voting against Mr. Jordan.
He can only lose four Republican votes in the speaker election.
Ms. Mace said that some of her colleagues were “taking personal vendettas and petty politics” by not voting for Mr. Jordan.
“I think that’s a mistake, and so if they want to punish us, let them,” she said.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida, one of the original holdout votes against Mr. Jordan, said that their willingness to accept retribution would make him never vote for Mr. Jordan.
“Why? Because if this was their plot all along to oust Kevin McCarthy, who was a rightful leader to put the one that they wanted, that’s just rewarding bad behavior,” Mr. Gimenez said. “And so we’ll see more of that. So if that’s what they did, they just solidified my vote against Jim Jordan.”
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, who has also consistently voted against Mr. Jordan, told The Washington Times that he is focused on electing a speaker not meting out retribution.
“Issues of, you know, retaliation and stuff I think is counterproductive,” Mr. Diaz-Balart said.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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