Rep. Dean Phillips, in 15th round of House Speaker vote: "I rise to say, 'Wow'"
WASHINGTON -- Rep. Dean Phillips earned laughter and applause late Friday night when he rose to nominate Rep. Hakeem Jeffries in the 15th and, it would appear, final round of voting for Speaker of the House.
Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota then began his speech nominating Jeffries stating, "I rise to say, 'Wow.'"
Phillips then invited six Republicans to join with Democrats and elect Jeffries as House speaker.
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy had hoped to win the speaker's gavel Friday night in the 14th round, but his fate was in the hands of Rep. Matt Gaetz. McCarthy needed Gaetz to vote for him. And when Gaetz voted "present," he tanked McCarthy's chance to bring the speaker's election to an end.
"Everybody take your seats — let's do it one more time," McCarthy yelled to his conference before he was nominated by Rep. Bruce Westerman, of Arkansas, on the 15th ballot for speaker.
"The eyes of the world, the eyes of America are on this body right now," he said. "What America needs, what this body needs is a lot less talk and a lot more action."
Click here to read more about Friday's House Speaker vote.
