Florida Rep. Daniel Webster told
Newsmax TV Tuesday that he was running to succeed John Boehner as speaker of the House because conservative Republicans "don't get heard" by top leadership.
"The reason the conservatives are so distraught is because they don't get heard," the second-term Webster told "Newsmax Prime" host J.D. Hayworth. "The reason they don't get heard is because all of the decisions are made from the top of a pyramid of power."
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"A few people at the top dictate whatever happens in this House of Representatives," he added. "If they want their bill heard, it has to come from the top down. If they want to have an amendment heard, it's got to be blessed by the top down. It'll never work."
Webster said that he is "in it to win it" — though current House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy appears to be the favorite. He told CNN Tuesday that "I feel very good" on getting the votes to win the top position.
"What I'm saying is if we push down the pyramid of power and spread out the base, every member would have a chance to be successful," he told Hayworth. "To me, that's where we're missing the boat."
"We're excluding people — and by excluding them, there's no input."
Webster pointed to GOP frontrunner Donald Trump's status as a sign that Washington dysfunction could be remedied if he were elected speaker.
"That's why Donald Trump and these other frontrunners just point to us, D.C., Washington. That's us," he told Hayworth. "If we had done the right thing, if we do the right thing — and we base things on principle — we're going to be an aid to them, not a detriment."
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