Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) accused New York of attempting “political corruption” by delaying a special election to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY).
Republican lawmakers have a slim majority in the House, with 218 versus 215 Democratic lawmakers. President Donald Trump has poached Stefanik to serve as ambassador to the United Nations. He also tapped former Rep. Mike Waltz to be his national security adviser, which has made the majority even slimmer.
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“There’s a lot of hijinks going on in Albany; we’re very concerned about it. They would be disenfranchising 750,000 New Yorkers who live in that district if they were to keep it open until the fall,” Johnson said on Fox Business’s Life, Liberty, and Levin on Saturday. “They would be doing that obviously to try to keep our majority as razor-thin as possible. It’s unfair and looks like open political corruption, but they seem to not care in New York.”
“I thought they were the party of democracy I guess I’ve been misled for half a century,” host Mark Leven said, which prompted Johnson to laugh.
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Stefanik had her confirmation hearing before the Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 21 and her nomination was brought to the Senate floor on Jan. 30. However, her confirmation vote has yet to be scheduled in order to keep her voting power in the House.
The White House referred to Stefanik as a “great ally to President Trump.” Press secretary Karoline Leavitt expressed the administration would “look forward” to Stefanik’s new appointment, implying that the White House would continue to push to have her confirmed.
