Rep. Dan Bishop Explains His Vote Against McCarthy

BUCK: The ruckus on the House floor continues — who will be the next Speaker? We have somebody who can give some special insight to this because he is right there right now in Congress and about to vote. But he’s joining us for a couple of moments here to tell us what’s going on. Congressman Dan Bishop is with us right now. Congressman Bishop, appreciate your being with us, sir.

REP. BISHOP: Hello. Glad to be with you. I just missed my name (laughing) — a little bit fast, but I can go up and vote at the end, which you can do that. But I’m glad to have a chance to speak with you all.

BUCK: We really appreciate you making the time as this vote is underway and you’re going to be casting your vote. And let’s start with the most pressing question. How are you going to vote on this eighth ballot and why, Congressman?

REP. BISHOP: (laughing) The suspense must be killing everybody. I’m going to vote for Byron Donalds of Florida, and the answer is because the institution of the United States House needs to be changed. It needs to be put to work for the American people, not for D.C. We cannot continue Nancy Pelosi-style governance here in the House.

CLAY: So how does this play out? So we’re on, I believe, the eighth vote right now.

REP. BISHOP: Yeah.

CLAY: If you are still going to vote for Byron Donalds, that would suggest that the 20 or so of which you are a member who will not support the current, expected Speaker here. How does this end? Like where do where do we go from here? How do you see this playing out?

REP. BISHOP: You know, from sampling the media and interviews and inquiries I’ve had, that’s the question seems to be on everybody’s mind. And I understand that it is. And the answer is that I don’t precisely know. But that is the beauty of the process we’re engaged in, and a lot of people are wringing their hands, or you see on some places out on media, “It’s chaos!” It’s not chaos. This is how Congress operates, and so we’ve had three days — that the nation will certainly endure — in which we’ve been in…

You know, there’s something on there’s a spectacle on TV about votes that American people aren’t accustomed to seeing, and there’s a lot of work that’s going on in the background and has been for months to do what I said at the top, which is to change this place and make it work, because at least in my sense, I don’t know that many people — I’ve not encountered that many — who say, “You know what? Congress works exactly as it should. It’s basically solving the American people’s problems and keeping things working well.” I don’t think anybody thinks that. I’ve found about 90% of the people think otherwise.

BUCK: We’re speaking to Congressman Bishop. He’s on the floor right now — or, I should say, in Congress right now up on Capitol Hill — and about to be casting his vote on the floor. He will be casting it for Speaker of the House, for Byron Donalds, not for Kevin McCarthy; we’ve established that. Congressman Bishop, of course, of North Carolina for everybody out there, what is it that…? What is it that would be different? Let’s say, let’s just say for the purpose of discussion, that Congressman Donalds is successful eventually — and, who knows, could be on the 50th ballot given how things are going. If that were to happen, how would Congress be different than a Kevin McCarthy speakership?

REP. BISHOP: Here’s the clearest way that I could even say it. Two weeks ago, we passed, rammed through the House after coming out of the Senate with 18 Republican votes, a $1.7 trillion omnibus — put together by a handful of people in the dark, in the back rooms — that has all sorts of horrible stuff in it. I’ve detailed it in a long Twitter thread that went viral — some of it, what you can — 4,800 pages. They put it out two days before we pass it, right before Christmas, ram it through “or else the government’s going to shut down.”

That would stop, and we’re working on stopping that regardless who the Speaker becomes by changing rules and processes. But those can always be waived by a majority vote on the House floor, and so what you really need… The best way to guarantee change is to have a person who will lead you to change. But if you can’t get that, then you’ve got to do the best you can to build processes and build pressure so that you follow through and do the right things. It is a tough call, but it’s really important that it succeed.

CLAY: So you’re voting for Byron Donalds, you said, although you haven’t got to cast that vote yet on the eighth ballot here as they search for a Speaker. But yesterday I believe it was, Cori Bush, Democrat from Missouri, attacked him based on his race.

REP. BISHOP: Right.

CLAY: I mean, it was basically blatantly racist for being up as potentially a Speaker candidate. I believe you spoke on the floor earlier to address that issue. What did you say and what did you think of what Cori Bush said about Byron Donalds, the man who you intend to vote for as Speaker of the House?

REP. BISHOP: I put it out there in my in my speech nominating him on the first ballot of the day, and what she said about him in a tweet, she called him “a prop,” and you’d need to know Byron Donalds to know how absurd it is. He’s not a prop, and this is — and the reason I spoke of it today, and of one other incident that has occurred is — utter illustrations of Washington, D.C. that people are completely familiar with. They’ve seen it for years and years. That grotesquely racist trope is used constantly by the left here. It’s got to stop. We’ve got to quit doing things exactly the same way in the same order and expect different results, and I just think it’s reprehensible. And calling it out, just like doing this is the kind of thing that men and women of courage are going to need to come here and do and (chuckles) I got to tell you, if you don’t have courage here, it’s never going to change.

BUCK: Congressman Bishop, can I ask…? There’s some reporting from earlier today that McCarthy had agreed to a number of specific asks from members of the Freedom Caucus who had been voting against him and voting for another candidate. A whole range of things, a vote on term limits, whether somebody could vote for effectively — what is it, a no-confidence vote to remove the Speaker? Is there a future you could see in which if certain assurances are given and promises are made, you could see Kevin McCarthy win despite the opposition against him because there would have been concessions made that would deal with some of the concerns of the Freedom Caucus. Or is it no way, no how you and other members — to your knowledge — are going to actually vote for McCarthy when this is all said and done?

REP. BISHOP: You know, I think the important thing is that there are a number of risks to be managed. You’ve got to solve the problem of fixing the place for the American people. Beyond that, I don’t have pre-conditions. It just has to get fixed. So I wouldn’t say I’m gonna, I wouldn’t say I’m not, because I think we’ve gotta preserve the possibility to do something that’s new.

CLAY: Representative Dan Bishop talking with us. You mentioned all the work you did, and your staff did, and I appreciate you for the work you did on the omnibus bill and what you put out there — even though, ridiculously, 18 Republicans in the Senate went along with that bill, and we talked about your work and your staff’s work on this show, as in a lead up to that 7 trillion. You’re seeing a lot of people voted for right now. Do you believe that whoever the Speaker is should be a currently serving member of the House? Because I saw where Matt Gaetz, for instance, put Donald Trump forward as the Speaker of the House nominee. Do you believe that it should be somebody who is currently a member of the House of Representatives, or do you think that an external candidate could make sense?

REP. BISHOP: I am open to every possibility that will get the job done, and so — and I hate to do this, but I’m about to miss my opportunity to vote.

BUCK: No, no, sir. You’ve gotta go vote.

CLAY: You gotta go. Yes.

REP. BISHOP: All right, guys.

BUCK: So, yes, I understand. Congressman Dan Bishop, thank you so much for speaking to our audience across the country about this pivotal issue.

REP. BISHOP: Definitely.

BUCK: Go do your constitutional duty, sir. Appreciate you joining us here on the program.

REP. BISHOP: Thanks a lot.

BUCK: Thank you very much.