Rosendale Explains House Speaker Votes

GOP l e ad e r Ke v i n McCarthy was voted as the count r y ’ s Speaker of the House on the 15th ballot late Friday, Jan. 6.

U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., was one of a group of Freedom Caucus who voted for other candidates throughout the process. Rosendale along with five other Republicans voted “present” on Friday night to allow McCarthy to finally be elected Speaker of the House.

“I want to congratulate Kevin McCarthy on his election to Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives,” Rosendale said in a statement to the media on Saturday morning. “Though I sought leadership change, I’m proud that my colleagues and I challenged the status quo and secured rule changes to ensure all Americans have a more significant voice in the people’s House. This past week has been long and contentious, but this is what a constitutional republic looks like. We’ve made tremendous strides toward restoring proper order to a Congress that, for generations, sought to serve its citizens instead of itself. Because we took a hard stand, power will be less centralized in House leadership, and individual members will be better able to serve the interests of their constituents. Now it is time for us to get to work on the priorities we share: holding the Biden Administration accountable, securing our southern border and restoring our nation’s energy independence.”