Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told Newsmax on Monday he supports the rules package negotiated to allow House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to finally be elected after 15 ballots, contending, "fiscally responsible Americans will again have a seat at the table."
Burchett told Newsmax's "Wake Up America" the changes "kind of mirrors what we have in the Tennessee legislature. It opens things up to everybody. There's transparency."
Burchett said "this rules committee will have folks that have a conservative heart, like I do."
He said, in the past, "the rules committee could pretty much hijack a bill and load it up with a bunch of woke garbage."
What was positive about the prolonged speaker vote was, according to Burchett, "we had more debate, more discussion in the past four days in Congress than what we had in the past four years under Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi. I am very much looking forward to Speaker McCarthy's leadership."
Burchett described the tense final moments as the House managed to vote in McCarthy as speaker.
Burchett was sitting near Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., when Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., lunged at him before being pulled back as Republicans were trying to get the final vote for McCarthy.
Burchett said Rogers "was hot," adding, the representatives "didn't get their naps." He said Rogers' act "was just bravado, I guess, adrenaline," as it was late at night and no one had gotten any sleep.
The incident occurred, Burchett said, after "we had it all worked out, everything was in good shape," saying, "Matt just wanted some time to look over the new rule changes, [as] he had obviously be an integral part" of those negotiations.
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Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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