‘What a shame’: Alabama’s Terri Sewell rips House GOP over failed votes
While Alabama’s Republicans in the House have largely remained quiet during the five failed votes for speaker of the House, Democrat Terri Sewell called out the GOP caucus in a social media post Wednesday afternoon.
Sewell, whose district includes parts of Birmingham and Tuscaloosa as well as Black Belt counties, did not mince words expressing her frustration following the fifth vote that failed to elect a speaker despite Republicans holding a newly-gained majority in the House.
“What a shame,” Sewell posted on Twitter. “Thanks to Republican infighting, the United States of America lacks a fully formed Congress for the first time in a century.”
Sewell then tagged the House Republican conference and continued her message.
“Any idea when we can put this chaos behind us?” Sewell said. “A lot of us are eager to get to work!!”
In all five votes, Sewell has backed New York’s Hakeem Jeffries — elected as leader of the Democratic conference in the House after California’s Nancy Pelosi withdrew from leadership responsibilities. Jeffries has received every vote of House Democrats in all five elections, collecting 212 votes each time.
With all members voting, 218 votes are needed to earn the majority to become speaker.
Alabama’s six Republican members of the House — Robert Aderholt, Jerry Carl, Barry Moore, Gary Palmer, Mike Rogers and Dale Strong — have voted for California’s Kevin McCarthy in all five elections.
Sewell is set to begin her seventh term in Congress.