The political intrigue fomenting the leadership succession crisis in the U.S. House notwithstanding, U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-District 4, said lawmakers should focus on averting the looming budget impasse that threatens to shut down the government later this year.
Speaking to Hot Springs National Park Rotary Club Wednesday at the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa, the Fountain Lake lawmaker said convincing someone to run for the speaker of the House position John Boehner is vacating isn't the most urgent matter facing the chamber.
"We have to get back to appropriations bills, and we have to address these fiscal issues," said Westerman, a member of the House budget committee. "Because every day that we don't address them, the problem gets worse. That's why we're in the predicament we're in now."
The House passed a continuing resolution to fund the government through mid-December after Boehner announced his resignation Sept. 25, a declaration Westerman said came as a revelation when the 13-term Ohio congressman informed the Republican Conference Committee. He said the shock didn't brace the gathering for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy subsequently revealing he wouldn't seek the speakership.
"We're setting a pretty high bar for excitement in conference committee meetings," Westerman said. "John Boehner comes in and resigns one week, and Kevin McCarthy tells us he's not going to run for speaker the next week."
Republicans aren't falling all over themselves to step into the breach, as evidenced by former vice presidential nominee and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Paul Ryan demurring after being tapped as the likely successor.
"Paul Ryan told me personally he's not interested," Westerman said.
The onus then devolved to South Carolina congressman Trey Gowdy, but Westerman said the chairman of the Select Committee on Benghazi begged off.
"Trey Gowdy told the conference, 'I love you guys, but I don't love you enough to lead you right now,'" Westerman said.
A disapproval that transcends party affiliation makes the speaker the focus of a popular animus centered on Congress' inability to govern, Westerman said. Being the epicenter of that ire makes it an unenviable job, he said.
"People are really frustrated," he said. "They want to see things done differently in Washington, D.C. People are frustrated they're not seeing bills get on the president's desk. Out of that frustration, they want to blame someone, and the speaker of the House is the easiest person to blame."
Westerman said the heightened scrutiny McCarthy faced after becoming the heir-apparent led to his withdrawal, which was preceded by his admission that politics was the primary motivation behind the formation of the Benghazi committee.
"You're really putting a target on your back to be speaker of the House right now," he said. "When Kevin McCarthy announced he was going to run for speaker, I've gotten to know Kevin quite well, I said, 'Are you sure you want to do this?', and at the time he was.
"After a couple of weeks of the attacks he decided that, not necessarily that he didn't want to do it, but he knew it wasn't best for the House of Representatives or the country for him to take on that position."
State Sen. Bill Sample, R-District 14, prefaced his introduction of Westerman by announcing that the freshman congressman was a prospective candidate for speaker. Westerman deflected the assertion, saying the Constitution's silence on how the House is to a select the speaker means Sample could also be a candidate.
"Technically, he could be a speaker candidate as well," he said. "You don't have to be a member of the U.S. House. Like I told somebody on the radio this week, in the words of Clint Eastwood, 'A man has to know his limitations.' I'm not really a candidate for the speaker of the House."
Local on 10/15/2015