Rep. Mike Johnson (LA), one of eight current candidates for Speaker of the House, asked Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) to deliver his House Speaker nomination speech.
Each candidate for Speaker has submitted the following names to the Conference for nominating speeches this morning:
Rep. Bergman (Mike Bost); Rep. Donalds (Mario Diaz-Balart); Rep. Emmer (Brad Finstad); Rep. Hern (Ron Estes); Rep. Johnson (Cathy McMorris Rodgers); Rep. Palmer (Bruce Westerman); Rep. Scott (Rick Crawford); Rep. Sessions (Morgan Griffith).
(Note: Rodgers is the only female Representative delivering a nominating speech for the all-male list of Speaker candidates.)
Rodgers, who initially stood by her friend Kevin McCarthy when he was first threatened with being ousted, is known for her skills as an orator.
Under @SpeakerMcCarthy's leadership, the People's House has been focused on solutions for the hardworking people of this country, like lowering energy costs, raising the standard of living, and securing the border. I stand by my friend and will continue to support him as Speaker.
— CathyMcMorrisRodgers (@cathymcmorris) October 3, 2023
The Congresswoman gained national attention in 2014 when she — at the time the highest-ranking female Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives — delivered the Republican response to President Barack Obama‘s State of the Union Address.
Rodgers’s 2014 address echoes the same promises many GOP politicians make today, as she says “and with too many Americans living paycheck to paycheck, we have solutions to help you take home more of your pay, through lower taxes, cheaper energy costs and affordable health care.”
But though those promises are politically evergreen, the way Rodgers closes her 2014 speech speaks volumes about the polarization that has stymied the nation in the years since. Rodgers says in closing, referencing then-President Obama: “May God guide you and our president, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.”
No Republican politician today, in this divisive post-2020 environment, would dare to go on national TV and bless Joe Biden.
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