The House needs strong leadership, "and we needed it several weeks ago," Rep. Beth Van Duyne told Newsmax on Thursday, commenting before news broke that Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, appears to be putting his bid to replace ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy on hold.
"There's just way too much on our plates right now to not have a speaker in that office," the Texas Republican, who said she supports Jordan in his bid for the seat, told Newsmax's "National Report."
Van Duyne pointed out that the country is facing the border crisis, as well as being in the middle of a continuing resolution enacted earlier this month to keep the government open.
"We've got until Nov. 17 to figure out a solution before our funding runs out for the government, not to mention what's happening in Israel," she said.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden, in an address Thursday night from the Oval Office, will ask Congress for $100 billion in support for Israel's war against Hamas and the war in Ukraine, and Van Duyne said she thinks "it's a mistake" to ask for funding for both wars as "part of a package."
"They're two separate countries, two separate wars, and two separate instances," she said. "I think right now what we're seeing in Israel is horrendous. We've sent aid to Ukraine, several tens of billions of dollars of aid and we've asked for an accounting of that."
However, a speaker is needed so legislation can be brought onto the floor, "so before we can have these conversations, we've got to get a speaker in place," said Van Duyne.
And even though she supports Jordan, she wants to see the "Jim Jordan that shows the same veracity that he's got in the Judiciary Committee."
"I'm concerned about our spending," Van Duyne said. "I don't want to see a clean CR that comes forward that continues [former Speaker] Nancy Pelosi's levels of spending."
She added that as a Texas representative, her focus is on the border.
"The fact that we've got 8 million people who have illegally entered our country in the last 2.5 years since Biden took over," Van Duyne said. "We've had over 100,000 deaths because of fentanyl that's entering from our southern border, it is concerning to me the trafficking, human trafficking, and sex trafficking."
Still, the United States must help Israel, "as it is facing one of the worst travesties to the Jewish people since the Holocaust," she said.
Van Duyne also on Thursday called for Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., to be censured for refusing to apologize for blaming Israel for the hospital blast in Gaza.
"We are looking at complete misinformation that she is spreading," Van Duyne said. "It's leading to deaths. It's leading to hatred. It's leading to other countries now taking a position against Israel and also lead I would say, probably to some of the canceled meetings that you saw with President Biden while he was in Israel."
She also noted the information the Israelis have about the bombing, and for Rep. Tlaib to "say that is completely wrong."
"It is creating chaos against Israel, and it should not be allowed to stand," said Van Duyne.
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