Message from Higgins RE SOTH vote.

I got the same canned response looks like.

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Thank you for contacting me to share your comments regarding my vote for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. I appreciate and respect your opinion. Your voice has been heard.

Now, this is the beginning of a new Congress. We have a Constitutional duty to elect a Speaker of the House before any legislative business can be conducted. This duty is not a rule or a tradition. It’s Constitutional writ that Congress shall elect a Speaker of the House at the beginning of each new Congress. Without a Speaker, committees cannot form, hearings cannot take place, and conservative legislation will not move forward.

In our internal debates, Kevin McCarthy received 185 votes. There were 31 of us who voted for another candidate. I was one of those 31. I have had a solid working relationship with Kevin since 2017, and I’ve candidly spoken on that truth for six years. My vote for Andy Biggs in November reflected my support for deep Conference debate regarding Constitutionalist reform during that season of Conference deliberation. My vote in November reflected my core principles as a man who has sworn an oath to our Constitution, not to any individual.

That season of debate has been largely successful in unprecedented ways. The House Freedom Caucus drove that debate, and Kevin McCarthy facilitated the debates. Conservatives won by introducing and encouraging significant Constitutionalist reforms deep into the actual rules language of our Conference and the House itself. Here is a link to those changes. That season of debate has passed. It was worth the fight, and the need for reforms continues, but now is the time for unity as a party as we fulfill our Constitutional obligation to elect a Speaker of the House. Kevin McCarthy has been duly elected as the Republican nominee for Speaker, and I am a Republican American man. Kevin McCarthy is our Speaker, and we are moving forward.

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What a slimeball.

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You?

or Higgins?

Obviously fake news.

Clay cant write.

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McRino

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Little known fact: This is the most expensive item on the secret McDonald's menu.

The man makes a good case.

He tried to get his man elected, but there were not enough votes. The next move was to get concessions. Apparently he did. Now it’s time to move forward.

Doing nothing is not an option. I’m happy with the outcome and are hoping to see more of what we’ve seen so far.

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There were 31 of us who voted for another candidate. I was one of those 31 (in November????)

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That was the private, internal debate they had. Think of it as the "smoke-filled room in the back where all the decisions are made". Winning factions in Congress likely have done this for generations so they don't have to spend weeks dickering on the House floor. They get it handle (as much as possible) in private ahead of time, then show up and go through the theater of making it official.

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The House Freedom Caucus drove that debate, and Kevin McCarthy facilitated the debates.

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I think McCarthy was going to facilitate anything where he could gain SOTH. If Jordan or someone else came out the big winner in those debates I doubt he would have been so "facilitating".

All that said, he's got the spot now so now he's got to prove himself. I'm not an unfair person so I'll give him the same chance I give other politicians (although they usually prove why they were the wrong person for the spot within the first few months).

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It's in Article I of the Constitution

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The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

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True that, my point being that he implies a constitutional obligation to vote for Mcazrthy, because otherwise there wouldn't be a speaker yet.

It's pretty clear that the clause merely describes who picks the SOTH, not that the pickers are obligated to pick in a timely or convenient manner. If the voting was still ongoing, noone in the House would be in violation of their oaths

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Overall, I am pleased with Higgins' past voting record, but the voting in November to nominate a SOTH was done in secret and all we have to go by is his word that he was one of the votes cast for Biggs.

I believe him but wish that he and the other earlier McCarthy dissenters would have stayed true and forced him to squirm for longer or show his true colors and crossed the aisle for help to expose him further.

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Yup.

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Anyone that used the "this delayed the work, hearings, committees, etc" excuse is dead to me. It was a freaking week.

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But McHiggins and company fought for and won much needed reforms back in November.

That's why they voted for McCarthy!