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Republican Rep. James Comer thinks that Kevin McCarthy is the best fit for House speaker right now

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Republican Rep. James Comer, who will lead the House Oversight Committee, said he doesn’t think GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy is the “perfect” House speaker, but he’s “the right person to lead our conference at the right time.”

After a day of chaos in the Republican Party, the House will probably try for a fourth time on Wednesday to choose a speaker. McCarthy didn’t get the majority of votes she needed to win after three rounds of voting on Tuesday. Until a speaker is chosen, nothing else can happen in the House.

“We all agree we need a speaker,” Comer said on Wednesday’s “CBS Mornings.” “We need a speaker today, so I think it’s important that both sides try to find a way out of this in political talks.”

“Both sides have put their heads in the sand,” he said. “I think we need to come to some kind of agreement so we can elect our speaker and move forward with the Republican agenda that voters gave us in November.” In the 118th Congress, Republicans have a lead of nine votes.

Comer thinks that “a lot of this is personal” for the Republicans who are against McCarthy’s bid. He also thinks that McCarthy is being “blamed for the sins” of other speakers.

“And I think Kevin got the message: Look, you’re in trouble if you don’t work with all parts of the Republican conference, and I think that was shown yesterday,” he said.

He also said that as negotiations go on, there will be a lot of back and forth and fighting among the parties.

“And I hope that yesterday was a good way for everyone to learn that, look, we have to get to 218, and no one is going to get everything they want,” he said, referring to the number of votes McCarthy needs to become speaker.

Comer said, “Starting with our tax dollars, once the position is filled and the committees are set up, the House wants to focus on waste, fraud, abuse, and bad management in the federal government.”

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