Texas Republican: Speaker vote ‘only the beginning’ of ‘rough and rowdy’ House

The chaotic Speaker’s election was “only the beginning” of a “rough and rowdy” session in the House of Representatives, according to Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who on Sunday blasted Republicans who delayed the selection of the Speaker as the “insurgency caucus.”

“The House of Representatives is a rough and rowdy place,” Gonzales said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “This is only the beginning… Republicans are much different than Democrats. We’re not just going to line up and jump off the cliff.”

Gonzales, who supported Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif), said the vote for Speaker is the easiest vote that the House will take. The second-easiest, he said, is the vote for the House rules package, which he plans to oppose.

Gonzales said he does not plan to support the rules package that is scheduled for a vote on Monday. One of the main reasons, he said, is because it includes a possible drastic cut in defense spending.

“Which I think is a horrible idea,” Gonzales said. “When you have aggressive Russia in Ukraine, you have a growing threat of China in the Pacific.”

But Gonzales said he wasn’t whipping other lawmakers into voting against the package.