GOP rep: 'Matt Gaetz is the dog that caught the car'

Nominated for speaker, far-right Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) suffered a major humiliation when, on October 17, 20 House Republicans voted against him — a number that increased to 22 the following day.

One of the GOP lawmakers who voted against making Jordan speaker was Rep. Michael Lawler (R-New York). The conservative congressman clearly isn't happy about the chaos that has been plaguing his party's House majority.

Lawler candidly discussed that chaos during an October 19 appearance on CNN, blaming the ultra-MAGA Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) for "paralysis and gridlock" in the House. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) was ousted after Gaetz triggered a "motion to vacate."

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Lawler told CNN, "Matt Gaetz is the dog that caught the car. There was no plan after the removal of McCarthy. You just hope the rest of the conference would solve the problem for him that he created. But you have a real challenge here — and especially after the removal of McCarthy, after blocking (Rep). Steve Scalise. There is a lot of frustration within the conference…. We need to get back to work."

Asked if there was anything Jordan to do to get him to vote for him, Lawler told CNN, "As I said to Jim last week, the fundamental issue, frankly, is not who the speaker is. It is the ability of the conference to work together. You have 221 members, and throughout the course of the year, around 20 folks have undermined the conference by voting down rules, by delaying the vote in January for speaker — by voting to vacate the chair, by refusing to support a conservative CR that would have cut spending big 8 percent and helped secure our border. And so, the frustration among many is the ability to govern, and that, to me, is the focus."

READ MORE: Jim Jordan's hope of becoming speaker 'in trouble': report

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