Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.) likened the ongoing drama between House Republicans trying to choose a Speaker to “peeing on the electric fence” during a Friday CNN interview.
Womack joined CNN’s Jake Tapper where he was asked why amid two major foreign policy crises and a pending government shutdown, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who had three failed Speaker votes, would “waste this entire week.”
“Sometimes we can be slow learners. It is kind of ironic that we’re doing this interview in the shadows of the Will Rodgers statue from Oklahoma right behind me,” Womack said inside the Capitol. “And you remember what Will said about this whole business of learning: you can learn, people learn by reading, people can learn by observation, and sometimes people learn by just peeing on the electric fence for themselves.”
House Republicans ultimately booted Jordan from being the Speaker nominee during a closed-door meeting after the third failed vote Friday, sending the GOP scrambling to find its third nomination since former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif) was ousted less than three weeks ago.
“So that is a situation that is reminiscent of House Republicans right now, that it has taken us now 17 days since the removal of Kevin McCarthy, for us to be in a situation where we can, at least see some clarity, some light at the end of the tunnel,” Womack continued.
The field of candidates vying to be the GOP’s third nominee is becoming crowded after the conference pushed Jordan aside. Before Jordan, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) narrowly won the nomination but withdrew his name a day later.
House Republicans are set to meet behind closed doors for their candidate forum on Monday evening when they will “start this process all over again.”
Womack added that he will support any candidate who can earn the 217 votes necessary to clinch the gavel, but noted that is “an elusive target right now because of the fractures in the conference.”