Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y.. told Newsmax that she sees no benefit in the move to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
"I don't see the benefit of having another motion to vacate," she said Friday on "Wake Up America." "I think that damaged House Republicans tremendously. It actually weakened us. I think we would have gotten some border security provisions by now had we stayed with Speaker [Kevin] McCarthy. Look how long it took us to finally agree on this speaker, and now they're unsatisfied with him.
"I think this is a fight that we can have in January. But for now, we need to stick together as it relates to our speaker being in that position. Let's focus on trying to get some wins here. And while I disagree with how he had handled this particular issue in legislation [on foreign aid], I don't see a value in vacating the speakership and throwing the House in chaos again."
On the issue of foreign aid, Malliotakis said: "I still believe that the House Republicans had to keep their commitment that we were not going to advance more aid to foreign countries without first securing our border."
Malliotakis was asked if she would support any of the foreign aid bills, which include money for Ukraine and Israel.
"I'm going to see how these bills come down [and] what amendments are included," she said. "I can tell you I’m not voting for all of them. I may be voting for some.
"I do believe it's important to support our ally Israel, but I am very frustrated with the House leadership that they did not insist that some type of border security measure be included here because we are fighting our own war at the southern border.
"We have the drug cartels who are killing 100,000 Americans annually … we need to secure our home front because I am very concerned about what potentially can happen here, particularly with tensions escalating around the world."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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