Sessions says there’s ‘a lot of uncertainty’ surrounding Speaker race

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), one of the eight candidates for Speaker, warned that there is “a lot of uncertainty” still surrounding the Speakership race as the House GOP meets Monday night to hear from their potential third nominee.

“There’s a sense of around I think, members of Congress, Republicans, that there’s a lot of uncertainty. There’s a lot that’s happening and people are skittish. And we probably should be after two weeks of trying this, but I want to give them our members confidence that we can win,” he said on NewsNation’s “The Hill” on Monday ahead of the Speaker forum.

When pressed further on what Republicans can win under his leadership, Sessions said they will win on the House floor on Tuesday and the election. He also emphasized that his role leading the National Republican Conference Committee (NRCC) in 2010 gave him the experience needed to be Speaker.

“Well, the pitch is real simple and that I believe I have the experience. In 2010, I led the National Republican Congressional Committee when we were 40 seats back. When no one thought we could win the majority, we won back 63 seats. And we did that because we all got together as a team. And if Republicans get together, we can achieve these,” he said.

Sessions served as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee from January 2009 until January 2013. He then moved to be chairman of the House Rules Committee where held the gavel from January 2013 through January 2019.

He said that he has made more than 100 phone calls over the last few days to make his pitch for the Speakership. When asked if he believed he would be the next Speaker, he was hesitant to say he whether he did.

“It’s hard to know. We’ve got to move through nine people, regional people, people in committee,” he said, adding that the Speaker election is a “difficult task.”

There are now eight lawmakers vying to become the next Republican candidate for the Speakership after Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) dropped out of the race Monday night. The Republican conference is holding a Speaker forum Monday evening to hear from candidates before holding an internal election on Tuesday.

The House has now been nearly three weeks without a Speaker after eight Republicans sided with Democrats to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) Since then, the House GOP has put forward two candidates and is now searching for a third after he GOP conference voted in a secret-ballot election Friday to boot Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as the Republican nominee.

The Hill show on NewsNation airs Monday to Friday at 5 p.m. EST.