Rep. Fitzgerald to Newsmax: ‘No Doubt’ McCarthy Will Be Next Speaker

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Rep. Fitzgerald to Newsmax: 'No Doubt' McCarthy Will Be Next Speaker rep. scott fitzgerald Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis. (Getty Images)

By Sandy Fitzgerald | Thursday, 17 November 2022 11:24 AM EST

There's "no doubt" that Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy will wield the Speaker's gavel in January, Rep. Scott Fitzgerald told Newsmax on Thursday before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's planned announcement about the future of her political career now that Democrats have lost the House majority.

"Everything in D.C. was about the excitement of us capturing the majority last night," Fitzgerald, a Wisconsin Republican said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "There was a lot of excitement. And now, today, it seems that almost all the House's actions are in the shadow of what Speaker Pelosi is going to announce today. Is she going to step aside, or is she going to try to hang in there again? No one really knows."

One report, from the Washington news outlet Puck News, said Pelosi, who was to speak at noon ET, will say she plans to drop back from her leadership role and endorse Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., but her spokesman said that "anybody who tells you they know what she will do is a liar."

Meanwhile, McCarthy, R-Calif., needs votes from 218 Republicans to become speaker. During an early meeting vote this past week, 31 party representatives said they did not support him, but Fitzgerald said he believes McCarthy will get the votes he needs to take the seat.

"I don't think there's any doubt about that," Fitzgerald said. "I think there's a little bit of a power play to see if we can't kind of negotiate some stuff."

But still, "I can tell you there is overwhelming momentum for him," said Fitzgerald. "A lot of the stuff that he has been working on over the last two years, and even before that, if you go back four years, are things that I think are going to help manage this conference, and it's going to be tough."

Many new Republicans are coming into the House, Fitzgerald added, as a "lot of top-tier, wonderful people have been elected," and a House Speaker must be ready as Republicans plan to be "going back to doing real business."

This means no more proxy voting, and that there will be "no more magnetometers at the door," said Fitzgerald.

"One of the votes we took yesterday is we want to re-establish that the U.S. capitol is open to the public and to any of our constituents who want to visit us on a regular basis," said Fitzgerald. "It means you're going to have to be in D.C. and you're going to have to do your job."

Fitzgerald also talked about former President Donald Trump's presidential campaign announcement this week, calling it exciting, but saying there is also a "side discussion in Republican circles" about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his success on Election Day and about Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin after the turnabout he created with his election last year.

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