Republican rep. slams Gaetz, McCarthy holdouts for drawn-out Speakership battle

Rep. John Rutherford (R-Fla.) slammed three of his fellow Florida Republicans on Thursday for drawing out the battle over the Speaker of the House, as they continued to oppose Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) bid for the leadership position.

Rutherford specifically called out Reps. Matt Gaetz and Byron Donalds and Rep.-elect Anna Paulina Luna, who are among the 20 far-right Republicans blocking McCarthy’s Speakership.

“Thanks to @RepMattGaetz, @RepDonaldsPress, & @realannapaulina, congressional offices like mine aren’t able to help our constituents with casework requests while we wait to be sworn in,” Rutherford said in a tweet on Thursday afternoon. “The small minority obstructing the speaker election is causing real consequences for Americans.”

After 10 roll call votes over three days, McCarthy has yet to make any headway among the Republican holdouts, who split their votes between Donalds and Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) on Thursday.

The frustration among members comes as McCarthy and his Republican detractors continued to suggest that they were making progress in negotiations, despite the lack of movement on the floor.

House business has remained at a standstill without a Speaker, with new members yet to be sworn in. The incoming chairs for the House Intelligence, Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees also expressed growing frustration over the holdup, after they were blocked from classified national security briefings.