Speaker candidate Rep. Pete Sessions is calling for unity among House Republicans in his campaign for House Speaker. He believes that if he wins, he can shift the focus from fighting to fixing.
Mr. Sessions, aged 68, is one of seven candidates running for Speaker of the House. This came after a closed-door vote to remove Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio as the conference’s speaker designate.
In an interview with Fox News, Mr. Sessions of Texas emphasized the need for the conference to come together, especially after three weeks of struggling to elect a new speaker following the departure of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Infighting and growing frustrations have led to divisions within the conference, causing a deadlock in the lower chamber for three weeks. With a failed resolution to empower temporary Speaker Patrick McHenry, Republicans have no choice but to unite behind a speaker candidate.
Unfortunately, they have failed to do so twice.
“It’s my hope that my speakership would allow us not just to work together, but to achieve the things where people went from fight to fix, and it’s that fight to fix transition that we need to get done,” Mr. Sessions said.
As the longest-serving candidate vying for the gavel, Mr. Sessions has two stints in Congress under his belt. He served from 1997 to 2019 and was reelected in 2021.
During his first stint, he chaired both the House Rules Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). His success as the NRCC chair is a crucial selling point for his ability to bring unity to a divided conference. Under his leadership, Republicans were able to gain 63 seats and secure the majority after being 40 seats back in 2009.
Mr. Sessions attributes this accomplishment to the strong collaboration of over 90 Republicans working together.
“When we work together, we’re very effective and we get our job done,” Mr. Sessions said. “We’re a little bit divided. It’s time to come together. I believe that I can do exactly that.”
