‘We Are A Broken Conference’: Republicans At Standstill After Speaker Nominee Drops Out

“We are a broken conference,” Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) told reporters after walking out of another meeting in the Capitol basement on Thursday.

Hours later, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the man Republicans nominated as their candidate for speaker just a day earlier, withdrew himself from consideration for the job, citing opposition from certain members of the Republican conference.

“There’s some folks that really need to look in the mirror over the next couple of days and decide, ‘Are we going to get it back on track,’ or are they going to try to pursue their own agenda,” Scalise told reporters.

“The world’s on fire. Our adversaries are watching what we do and quite frankly they like it,” Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said.

He expects his pro-Israel resolution to be the first thing to be voted on once the House reopens, but he said the clock is ticking to send Israel more weaponry to defend itself against Hamas. “We’re talking weeks. You can’t drag this out any longer.”