Local representatives weigh in on fight for speaker of the House

Representatives from the Capital Region are reacting to the battle on the House floor, as Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R – California) continued to lose multiple bids for speaker Thursday.

NewsChannel 13 caught up with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D – New York) at an event in Albany Thursday.

Schumer told reporters that as the leader of the Senate majority, he would look forward to working with whoever may become House speaker, whether that is Kevin McCarthy or someone else. He also pointed out that most bills passed in the Senate last session were bipartisan, and said he wants to continue that work across the aisle in Congress.

“I’m not mixing in with the House and telling them what to do, but as soon as they choose a speaker, I want to sit down with him or her in a bipartisan way and get things done,” Schumer said.

Also reached out to Congressman Paul Tonko and Congressman-elect Marc Molinaro as well as Congresswoman Elise Stefanik.

Republican Marc Molinaro said in part, “I was looking forward to being sworn in on Tuesday, unfortunately that cannot happen until the House of Representatives elects a speaker.”

Tonko’s team told NewsChannel 13 it hoped to provide an update late Thursday or early Friday.