Minnesota U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips landed a sound bite Friday night as he took the House floor following a dramatic skirmish among Republicans during Kevin McCarthy's prolonged fight to be speaker.
Rep. Dean Phillips to U.S. House colleagues after GOP speaker skirmish: 'Wow'
Minnesota's Phillips was the first Democrat to speak on the floor following the GOP drama that accompanied Rep. Kevin McCarthy's 14th loss for speaker.
January 7, 2023 at 5:52AM
"Madam clerk, I rise to say, Wow," Phillips said, beginning to chuckle as a large group of House colleagues, including many Republicans, stood to applaud, though not several members of Democratic leadership sitting around Phillips.
Phillips had been tapped to nominate Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader who for most of the rounds of balloting led McCarthy as the Republican leader struggled to win over a recalcitrant bloc of right-wing conservatives.
That came to a head on the 14th ballot, when McCarthy, prepared to finally win, lost again. He strode across the House floor to confront Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a ringleader of the holdouts. Another Minnesota lawmaker and a member of Republican leadership who backed McCarthy, Rep. Tom Emmer, was in the thick of that scene, seated directly next to Gaetz.
As McCarthy turned to walk away, Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama lunged toward Gaetz and was physically restrained by another colleague.
While Phillips drew laughs a few minutes later with his exclamation, he was quick to chide Republicans for the protracted leadership fight, which has delayed the swearing-in of all 435 House members. McCarthy finally clinched it a bit later, on the 15th ballot.
Phillips charged that the delay has damaged the ability of congressional offices to deliver constituent services.
"Americans are unhappy with the nonsense and dysfunction playing out on this floor," Phillips said.
Our mission this election cycle is to provide the facts and context you need. Here’s how we’ll do that.
