Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) released the following statement on the vote for Speaker of the House:

“I came to Congress to build broad coalitions and deliver for the people of New Jersey. I’ve worked to make New Jersey a better and more affordable place to live, work, and raise a family. Unfortunately, the House Republican majority has not shared my priorities. Time and again, they have catered to the most extreme members of their party and continue to weaken our nation with their failure to govern. Now, rather than working together on a path forward to reopen the House, Republicans have put forward an extreme, unserious candidate for Speaker who can’t even get enough votes from their own conference.

“To put it simply: Jim Jordan is unfit to be Speaker of the House. He is a MAGA extremist and an architect of the ‘Big Lie’ — former President Trump’s dangerous and unconstitutional efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Leading up to January 6, Jordan participated in a ‘Stop the Steal’ rally, signed the Supreme Court amicus brief contesting the results of the election, and objected to Arizona’s electoral results on the House floor. Then, after the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, he voted to reject the results of a free and fair election. As a founder of the far-right Freedom Caucus, he is a direct threat to the state of New Jersey having voted against relief after Hurricane Sandy, and is in favor of extreme legislation that would ban abortion nationwide, including in states like ours with strong protections for reproductive freedom.

“For the future of our country, we need a Speaker who believes in democracy and in the Constitution that we took an oath to protect. House Democrats stand ready to work and I hope Republican leadership will chart a new path forward that opens the House for the urgent business we need to do, including aid to our allies in Israel and Ukraine.”

The context, from CNN:

“Jim Jordan again failed to win the speakership in a second round of voting.  Yesterday, 20 House Republicans voted for someone other than Jordan. Today that number rose to 22. There were four new GOP votes against Jordan today. And two GOP votes that flipped from the first round of voting to Jordan’s favor were Reps. Victoria Spartz and Doug LaMalfa. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, who wasn’t in attendance at yesterday’s vote, also voted for Jordan today. Jordan got 199 votes in total. Democratic nominee for speaker, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, got 212 votes.”