Texas lawmaker defends GOP amid Speakership fight: ‘Democracy is hard work’

Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas) on Friday shot back at criticism over the House GOP amid the Speaker’s race, claiming “democracy is hard work.”

“This is part of the hammering this out in the family, we’re a family,” Weber said in an interview on The Hill on NewsNation. “We’ll keep the family together and the Republican Conference, we’ll get everybody back on board.”

“Quite frankly, I’m glad everybody is getting their say,” he added.

Asked if he was embarrassed by the drama, he simply said “no.”

Republicans nominated House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to be Speaker Friday before recessing for the weekend. The vote came one day after Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) who originally secured the nomination, dropped out after not receiving enough support from fellow Republicans.

As it stands, Jordan has 152 votes, beating out Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) who entered a last-minute bid. But Jordan still falls short of the 217 votes needed to clinch the gavel.

The Texas Republican said he thinks the discussions between House Republicans are healthy and is “glad everybody’s getting to stand up and say what they believe in” and who they support as speaker.

Weber said he plans to stay in Washington over the weekend to “get things done and not spend American taxpayers’ money flying back and forth.”

The lawmaker added that he believes House Republicans will ultimately come to an agreement to elect Jordan on the House floor by Monday — but stopped short of making any promises.

“Yogi Bear said the problem with predictions is you’re dealing with the future so I don’t want to make that prediction,” Weber said. “It could go to Monday night, it could go to Tuesday, let’s see.”

NewsNation is a cable news channel started by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.