President Biden on Wednesday called it “embarrassing” that the vote for House Speaker is “taking so long” following three ballots the day before in which Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) failed to cinch the leadership post, leaving the new Congress in limbo.
“It’s a little embarrassing it’s taking so long, and the way they are dealing with one another,” Biden told reporters outside the White House ahead of a trip to Kentucky.
“How do you think this looks to the rest of the world?” he added. “It’s not a good look, not a good thing. This is the United States of America and I hope they get their act together.”
When asked about the chaos surrounding the House Republican Conference, who cannot reach a consensus on who they want to be their leader, Biden replied: “That’s not my problem.”
The White House the day before insisted that the president would not “insert himself” into the Speakership election, noting that he was familiar with the congressional procedure given Biden’s decades serving in the Senate.
Biden is headed to Kentucky on Wednesday to tout an infrastructure bill alongside Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a rare showing of a Republican leader alongside the president.
McConnell was sworn in Tuesday as the longest serving Senate leader in history after 16 years leading the chamber’s Republican conference.
The House, meanwhile, remains in limbo as conservative GOP members continue to hold out coalescing around McCarthy, who is the first nominee for Speaker to not win on the first ballot in a century.
The lack of a Speaker means no members of Congress can be sworn in, bringing the chamber’s business to a standstill.
Earlier on Wednesday, former President Trump weighed in on the matter, calling on House Republicans to back McCarthy for the Speakership. Trump, who has announced he is running for president again, said House Republicans should “close the deal” and “take the victory.”
Source: The Hill
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