Last Updated on October 4, 2023
Kevin McCarthy’s downfall came when the former Speaker held border security hostage to ensure Jack Smith remained funded. Tom Emmer, Elise Stefanik, Tom Cole, Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan, and Donald Trump are believed to be the top contenders for the next speaker. NationalFile decided to inform its readers about what each Speaker Candidate has said about defunding the Biden DOJ witch hunts against Trump and his supporters.
Donald Trump’s position is clear: he believes the House should use the power of the purse to defund Jack Smith’s witch hunts. Prior to last week’s CR negotiation, Trump warned House Republicans that they could not fail in their efforts to defund Jack Smith. Clearly, Kevin McCarthy did not take Trump’s warning seriously.
In June, when asked about defunding Jack Smith, Elise Stefanki said, “We’re going to use all the tools available to us.” Stefanki has also been highly critical of Biden’s witch hunts. However, Stefanki’s voting record is almost in lock step with McCarthy’s.
Last week, Jim Jordan demanded that Jack Smith be defunded in any House CR. However, Jordan still voted against ousting McCarthy when McCarthy failed to accomplish this task.
Tom Emmer referred to Smith’s arrest of Trump as an abuse of power. But Emmer has yet to come out with any statement demanding Smith be defunded. This should come as no surprise as Emmer’s voting record is further to the left of Kevin McCarthy’s.
Steve Scalise has been highly critical of Jack Smith but has not pledged to defund using the CR process. However, Scalise being the number 2 House Republican puts him in a difficult position to comment during CR negotiations. One positive thing about Scalise is he is the highest-ranking Congressional Republican to question the results of the 2020 election openly.
Tom Cole has been critical of Smith but has never gone as far as to support defunding him. This position is unacceptable because, unlike Scalise, Cole has had ample opportunity to comment. Cole gives Emmer a run for his money as the most establishment candidate of the group.
Donald Trump is the only speaker candidate fully committed to defunding Jack Smith. The rest of the candidates must make their positions on this subject clear to voters.
Stay with National File for continuing coverage of the Speaker Vote.
