What Stanislaus congressional representatives are saying about House speaker disarray

Three US House members represent parts of Stanislaus County: Republican John Duarte has everything west of Highway 99 plus Ceres, and Republican Tom McClintock covers much of Modesto and most areas east of the highway. Democrat Josh Harder represents a small patch north of Oakdale.

Before House members reconvened Friday night, 13 votes for House speaker were taken and none produced a victory for Bakersfield Republican Kevin McCarthy. Duarte and McClintock chose McCarthy, and Harder voted each time for New York Democrat Hakeem Jeffries.

All three congressmen appeared in various media reports throughout the week.

Duarte

ABC30 (Fresno), Jan. 4

“In my district, we have one hospital closure (in Madera) that just happened. We have to get water on the farms. We have to drill American oil and get gas prices down.”

“If some folks can’t get along with Kevin well enough, they need to appreciate how hard he’s worked to get this majority together and then to get Americans set. He has laid out what we need to do.”

McClatchy Newspapers (Modesto Bee, Sacramento Bee, Fresno Bee), Jan. 5

House members can still meet, but the presiding officer is the clerk of the House. For now, they have to “just keep going” on their speaker ballots, Duarte said. As long as members are not officially members, they cannot get paid, though paychecks are not issued until later in the month anyway. Then, “the pressure goes up — for some, quite a bit,” said Duarte.

Duarte is waiting to put together all of his Washington D.C. staff until he has committee assignments, ideally on ones related to agriculture and natural resources. But to get those, “we’ve got to have a speaker.” He is still setting up his district staff, taking calls from and assisting constituents, and moving forward on bipartisan discussions.

McClatchy, Jan. 6

New members saw nothing but disarray. “We knew that there’d be some of this waiting for us, we still don’t know how much,” Duarte, said. “We’re all doing everything we can do,” he said, “but we want to get to real work.”

McCarthy’s California congressional colleagues are eager for an end to the chaos playing out this week. In McCarthy, they not only have the financial support of one of the best fundraisers in their party, but national representation of a region often overlooked. “It’s a very powerful position. That would be very good for the Central Valley to have Kevin in there,” said Duarte, whose campaign received $10,000 from McCarthy’s PAC. “We’ve got a big Central Valley caucus. The speaker has a lot to do with committee assignments, legislative priorities, appropriations — the speaker is a powerful role. For David Valadao, myself, Tom McClintock, Jim Costa, all of us are better off with a Central Valley speaker.”

Twitter self video, Jan. 6, on the Capitol steps

“This is my walk to work. I find walking up the steps the the Capitol each morning so much better than taking the tunnels. You get to see the majesty of the Capitol, and we can’t wait to get to work for you.”

McClintock

McClintock wrote a column appearing Jan. 4 in The Washington Times and Jan. 5 at mymotherlode.com. Excerpts:

“The fate of Rome warns that even the strongest civilizations cannot survive the debasement of their currency, the disintegration of their constitutional principles and the collapse of their borders. Like it or not, despite our imperfections and peccadillos, the 222 House Republicans are all that stand between our country and such a fate. The momentous question the dissenters must face is whether they are willing to forfeit the Republican majority and guarantee another two years down the road we are on.”

“Is McCarthy conservative enough? ... McCarthy has always tried to push the conference to the right. While Paul Ryan worked to actively undermine the policies of the Trump Administration, Kevin McCarthy always backed them. And whatever you think about Trump personally, his policies worked.”

“Outside the Republican conference, we cannot succumb to the temptation of disunity. We should treat our deliberations with the same sobriety and seriousness as the American Founders did the Constitutional Convention.”

Harder

McClatchy, Jan. 4

“I think it’s a bad sign that they can’t coalesce on a leader. How are we going to pass any budget?”

Twitter, Jan. 3, photo of Harder holding his 8-month-old daughter at the Capitol.

“Lillian has agreed to step in as speaker. But only if it comes with a lifetime supply of raspberries.”