Juan Ciscomani makes his first speech from the House floor on Friday, nominating Kevin McCarthy for speaker in the 10th round of voting. It took 15 votes before a speaker was chosen and Ciscomani was sworn in to represent Congressional District 6.
By Dan Shearer || Green Valley News Updated Jan 9, 2023
The thrill of making his first speech on the House floor ran into a wall of reality last week for U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani.
Ciscomani, a Republican who won his first term in office in November, brought his family to Washington expecting to be sworn in Jan. 3. Instead, the House took 15 votes over five days to choose a speaker as 20 far-right holdouts demanded concessions — and got most of them.
The delay prevented anybody elected to the House — veteran lawmakers and new members — from doing much more than vote for speaker, then hang around for the next vote until the deadlock was broken early Saturday.
“That’s where the frustration comes in,” Ciscomani said Friday morning in an interview with the Green Valley News. “This is our form of government, this is what our government is and what it allows so there’s nothing outside those bounds in this sense.”
But he acknowledged it got old quickly.
