In the midst of chaos and tension among House Republicans over spending bills, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) praised former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a Thursday interview on CNN.
When asked by CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins if current Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will make it through the tumult “with his job intact,” the Tennessee lawmaker said he is unsure. Burchett then went on to praise Pelosi’s work as Speaker and her leadership skills.
“I don’t agree with her ever, hardly on anything,” Burchett said. “But she was pretty successful.”
Burchett also said that despite having political disagreements with Pelosi, the two House members are friends. He said they have family members with similar names, and Pelosi often asks about his daughter, who was injured last year in an incident with a horse.
The House GOP’s difficulties in the face of a looming government shutdown also coincide with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit. One of a few spending measures the House GOP’s stopgap funding bill does not account for is assistance to Ukraine in its war against Russia, an oversight Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) criticized earlier this week.
“And with no Ukraine funding, the proposal is an insult to Ukraine and a gift to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. I cannot think of a worse welcome for Zelensky, who visits us this week, than this House proposal, which ignores Ukraine entirely,” Schumer said.