On Tuesday's edition of MSNBC's "All In," former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki laid into House Republicans for failing to even do the most basic, easy aspect of their new job as the majority in the lower chamber: choosing the Speaker.
A majority of the caucus is behind longtime GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), but a large group of defectors repeatedly blocked McCarthy from achieving 218 votes — the first time this has happened in a Speaker election since 1923.
"I have to imagine, in the White House and among Democrats in Washington — professional Democrats — there is a bit of, like, see? See? We told you. This is the way these people are," said anchor Chris Hayes.
"Yeah, look," said Psaki. "I think Hakeem Jeffries had it right today when he basically said, they are looking for a partner to solve problems, not to solve the chaos and dysfunction of the Republican Party. And that is kind of what we saw today. And even though it is a small wing of the party, going into today, Kevin McCarthy clearly did not know if he had the votes. He did not have the votes. And this is supposed to be the easy day, right? This is the day when you come back from college and you see old friends and you are buying your books. And you already know who is going to be the Speaker. That is why this has not happened for 100 years."
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Faced even with this simple, ceremonial task, said Psaki, "they could not get it done."
"So, the Democrats, I think, are being the adults in the room," said Psaki. "They are going to just watch this happen. But what is really crazy and should be a bit alarming here is what happens after this. At some point, there will be a Speaker, right? But what today told me is that this House is not headed toward raising the debt limit. And that is a very disastrous outcome. So, that is what alarmed me."
Watch the video below or at this link.
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