When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Paul Gosar were spotted chatting on the House floor Tuesday afternoon, observers wondered what the New York Democrat and Arizona Republican might be casually talking about. After all, Gosar was removed from his committee appointment in 2021 for posting an anime video of him attacking and killing Ocasio-Cortez.
The topic at hand becomes what is playing out in front of them, as the new Republican majority tries and fails to elect a House speaker. Without the Speaker of the House, no representative can be sworn in, and the business of the House ceases.
Ocasio-Cortez told MSNBC’s Alex Wagner later that Gosar had brought up the possibility of Republicans cutting a deal with Democrats that could secure the speakership for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Challenges brought by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and others meant Tuesday’s three rounds of voting failed to reach the total needed to elect McCarthy.
Ocasio-Cortez said with a laugh: “I think there’s any kind of chaos, especially in this day and age.” But he signaled that any deal was unlikely to happen.
He explained how it happened in the House when there was no consensus.
“Sometimes the leaders of your party — in this case, the Republican Party — will make a statement to try to lock arms and get people in line, and often information and truth are the currency.”
He continued: “So, sometimes, in order to check the reality of some of the statements made by McCarthy, whether the Democrats will be handicapped or not, and so on, it is important to keep them honest and to keep people honest. public.”
Democrats rallied around Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.) to lead the caucus back in November, and lined up behind him in Tuesday’s speaker votes without issue. He is expected to officially become the minority leader once the speakership is decided and MPs are sworn in.
“I think the important thing right now,” Ocasio-Cortez said, “is to send a message that we’re joining Hakeem Jeffries as the minority leader now, or as the Democratic leader, and there will be no defections.”
Gaetz was also caught on camera talking to Ocasio-Cortez in the same conversation.
Jeffries also said Tuesday afternoon that Democrats will not help Republicans in their own internal chaos.
“We are looking for a partner willing to solve problems for the American people, not save the Republicans from their dysfunction,” Jeffries said.
Strangely, the camera footage of Ocasio-Cortez and Gosar, and Ocasio-Cortez and Gaetz, is only possible because of House dysfunction.
Leaders of the House and Senate usually limit C-SPAN, a nonprofit organization that broadcasts federal government proceedings, to broadcasting very broad pictures and highlights of whoever is speaking — not on the sidelines to react or see who is talking to whom. With no one officially sitting in the House, C-SPAN is allowed to direct its cameras to the most interesting events.