Last Updated on December 12, 2022
U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) made a statement to the media on Friday in Washington D.C. in which he stated the GOP is in the process of “vetting” the next Speaker of the House, an office which he asserted may be the “most powerful” in the world.
“We’re getting ready to elect the most powerful person, I would argue, in the United States or the world. The Speaker’s got a lot of power,” Rep. Norman asserted.
The South Carolina congressman implied that the American mainstream media puts more focus on issues less pertinent to the nation than the next U.S. Speaker of the House.
“Miss America gets vetted more than we’re vetting the next speaker. The candidates go through a process, answer questions, [to] see how they react,” Norman added.
"We're getting ready to elect the most powerful person, I would argue, in the United States or the world. The Speaker's got a lot of power," Ralph Norman (R-SC-05) said. "Miss America gets vetted more than we're vetting the next speaker." pic.twitter.com/wENDmwJM5x
— Addy Adds (@OneAddyAdds) December 12, 2022
“We’re asking questions. We’re vetting him. I was not in lockstep with just coronating him. Anybody, I don’t care if it’s Mickey Mouse, this country’s in trouble,” he said.
Pastor Mark Burns criticized McCarthy for his failure to state his plan to remove Pelosi era House rules.
“Kevin McCarthy is refusing to get rid of Nancy Pelosi’s House Rules! Ralph Norman’s stance against Kevin McCarthy proves he is just the kind of representative South Carolina needs,” the former congressional candidate added.
Burns also highlighted McCarthy’s alleged implication in the FTX money laundering scandal.
“Kevin McCarthy destroyed our Red Wave, and even took dirty, stolen FTX money to do it! I’m a solid NO on McCarthy, and no other South Carolina Republican should vote for him either,” he said.
McCarthy for speaker.
Kevin McCarthy destroyed our Red Wave, and even took dirty, stolen FTX money to do it!
I'm a solid NO on McCarthy, and no other South Carolina Republican should vote for him either.
— Pastor Mark Burns (@pastormarkburns) December 4, 2022
Also among elected Republicans, U.S. Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) stated on Sunday that multiple candidates who are interested in the House Speaker position have contacted him and that the rebellion is gaining momentum. “There’s no diminishment of that. There are more of those kinds of people coming to us and asking us what we’re looking for, because they’re interested in being Speaker,” Good said.
U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) corroborated his Freedom Caucus colleague’s comments about interest received from potential candidates. “I think people realize…if somebody were to come out now and we didn’t deliver enough votes to stop Mr. McCarthy, there would be a real potential for blowback. So I think that people are interested, they’ve expressed it to some of us,” Biggs said.
The U.S. Constitution does not require that the Speaker of the House be a current member of Congress, however, no non-members have ever been elected.
The election for the next Speaker of the House will take place on January 3rd, 2022.
Stay tuned to The National File for any updates.
