Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) is suggesting the time may be approaching for House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to withdraw from the speaker’s race.
During an appearance on CNN on Wednesday, Buck — who has voted for McCarthy for speaker — said, “I’ve had a number of conversations with Kevin, and I just basically told him that at some point, this needs to break loose.”
“He either needs to make a deal to bring the 19 or 20 over, or he needs to step aside and give somebody a chance to do that,” he continued.
He went on:
“I don’t know what that time frame is. But it makes sense that at some point today, we are able to move forward in a way that we elect a speaker.”
Watch the video below:
Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), who’s so far supported Kevin McCarthy every ballot, warns McCarthy is running out of time:
— The Recount (@therecount) January 4, 2023
“At some point this needs to break loose. He either needs to make a deal to bring [them] over or he needs to step aside and give somebody else a chance to do that.” pic.twitter.com/y1S9nayh7d
However, he lamented the fact neither Democrats nor the 20 Republicans who oppose McCarthy will provide enough votes so the House can adjourn and Republicans can talk about the future.
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) told The Hill he spoke to Buck after his comments on CNN and added, “We’re gonna have one more round of votes. And we’re still having some conversations right now… Sounds like after that we’re going to talk again.”
McCarthy lost two ballots on Tuesday, with 19 Republicans voting for other candidates. And he lost a third ballot the same day as the number of defectors grew to 20.
It marked the first time since 1923 the House needed to take more than one vote to decide who the next speaker will be.
On the fourth and fifth ballots, 201 Republicans voted for McCarthy, 212 voted for incoming House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and 20 Republicans voted for Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.)
While Jeffries has repeatedly won the most votes of all the candidates, he has not hit the required 218 votes needed to win the speaker’s gavel.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California, lost a fifth consecutive vote for speaker on Wednesday as the deadlocked House of Representatives slogged through its second day without a leader or sworn members. Here's where the votes stand. https://t.co/BZe28rnEjG pic.twitter.com/6h8qHvTsPe
— The New York Times (@nytimes) January 4, 2023
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) started to vote present on the fourth ballot.
In a statement, Spartz explained her decision as she said, “We have a constitutional duty to elect the Speaker of the House, but we have to deliberate further as a Republican conference until we have enough votes and stop wasting everyone’s time. None of the Republican candidates have this number yet.”
And in another potential round of bad news for McCarthy, Buck appeared to signal he may not vote for the California Republican on future ballots.