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Former Kansas Rep. Kevin Yoder says House GOP needs leadership on Israel-Hamas crisis

FILE - The speaker's dais is seen in the House of Representatives of the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. After House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was voted out of the job by a contingent of hard-right conservatives this week, House GOP leaders are now grappling to find a new speaker. With no speaker of the House, a constitutional officer second in line to the presidency, the Congress cannot fully function — to pass laws, fund the government and otherwise serve as the branch of government closest to the people — during a time of simmering uncertainty at home and abroad. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
J. Scott Applewhite
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AP
House Republicans nominated House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana this Wednesday to be speaker, though no vote has taken place and the likelihood the representative is elected remains uncertain.

Without a speaker to lead the U.S. House, Yoder says Republicans can’t rally around a cause they can mostly all agree on: The urgent need to send defense aid to Israel in the wake of Hamas’ attack.

The United States House of Representatives has hardly functioned since Democrats joined a small group of far-right Republicans to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker last week.

Legislation can’t be passed without a speaker, including defense aid to Israel in its war against Hamas, which is an issue most Republicans can get behind, according to former Kansas Representative Kevin Yoder.

“In the Republican Conference, it's a very unifying rally cry,” Yoder told KCUR on Thursday. “And so I think they want to beat their chests on this and really support Israel, but it's hard to do that when you don't have a speaker.”

While Republicans nominated House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana this Wednesday to be speaker, no vote has taken place and the likelihood the representative is elected remains uncertain.

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