Amodei Votes Against Motion to Vacate

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Mark Amodei (NV-02) released the following statement after voting against the motion to vacate Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“Today, the House voted on a motion to vacate Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Following his ousting, Representative Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) was appointed speaker pro tempore of the U.S. House of Representatives. He was picked from a list of five names designated by Mr. McCarthy and shared with the House Clerk as a part of continuity of government procedures enacted after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This list was created by Mr. McCarthy after he was elected speaker earlier this year and was only made public following the event of a vacancy. From there, the House immediately recessed, and each party entered closed-door meetings to designate a nominee for speaker.

"Until we have a duly elected speaker, all legislative activity before the House ceases. This prevents us from doing the business of actual governing – including working to fully fund the government before the November 17th deadline. Americans know the crisis at the border, rampant inflation, and spiking crime are a result of Democrats’ liberal policies. The fact is, eight House Republicans chose to vote with every single House Democrat to shut down legislative business, focus on fundraising, and pander to media producers. While we can argue about our own definitions of conservatism, this degradation of the only conservative outpost in the entire federal government was brought about by just 3% of the Republican Conference.

"A fair question is – where do we go now? If you heard a plan during this wholesale assault on the House GOP majority, please share it with me because I heard nothing of the sort. Once again, 97% of the Republican Conference is left to pick up the pieces, just the same as we did last January.

"In my opinion, this period of infighting and limbo empowers the likes of Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, AOC, and Hakeem Jeffries. I assure you they’re looking for just a few more Members to join them in creating a so-called “coalition government” so they can be placed back in charge. With people like Adam Schiff and Ilhan Omar in charge of House Committees, there will be no pushback against the Biden Administration’s liberal wish list."