House Republicans left this afternoon’s conference meeting frustrated and calling for reflection after Rep. Jim Jordan’s speakership bid ended and as the chamber remains paralyzed.
Rep. Dusty Johnson, an even-keeled and pragmatic Republican, was especially furious as he attacked those who voted to oust former speaker Kevin McCarthy and called for a Republican not driven by ambition to step forward and lead the conference.
“Clearly there is yet another void we are going to have a couple more days of chaos as we try to get a sense of what’s next. To me, it reminds me of how incredibly irresponsible it was for 208 Democrats and 8 Republicans to put this House into absolute chaos without any kind of a plan for how we are going to move forward,” Congressman Dusty Johnson told CNN’s Manu Raju. “We need to go find a leader.”
Johnson added: “We really do need somebody to step forward, somebody who is mission driven. Somebody who is focused on doing something rather than just being something. Blind ambition has distorted this process enough.”
When Rep. Nancy Mace tried to call out Johnson while he was speaking with CNN, he fired back by slamming the eight Republicans who ousted McCarthy, saying that it’s been “a long time” since Mace has done “anything productive to move forward this broader team.”
“America’s got real problems. And this is a time where we need people who are interested in problem solving, not self-aggrandizement,” he continued. “It is time for big boys and big girls to stop with the nonsense and get back to work for the United States.”
Asked if anyone can get the votes to lead the conference, Johnson said: “There are people in that room who can get the votes. They have not thought of themselves as the guy or the girl yet, but this country, this Republican conference we are going to turn our eyes to them and we need them to step up.”
Rep. Austin Scott said the whole saga makes the Republican conference “look bad” as he called it a “dangerous game being played.”
“It was a dangerous game being played, the consequences were real for the country. If men were angels we wouldn’t need the government as you know. But men aren’t angels and we need the United States House of Representatives open,” he told CNN. “There’s a tremendous amount of resentment among the different groups in the conference. The resentment is something we’ve got to work through.”
Rep. Byron Donalds did not rule out a speakership bid himself, saying he needs to reflect on a path forward.
“What I’m going to do is frankly sit down, think, because we have got to get our business together and that’s going to be my entire focus,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju.