House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's spokesman called Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's letter pledging to fully reopen the House of Representatives an "incoherent" and "desperate attempt" to distract from Republicans' "unmitigated disaster" in the midterm elections.
Pelosi's spokesman, Drew Hammill, blasted McCarthy's letter in a press release on Thursday, just two days after the midterm elections.
McCarty said in a letter to several legislative branch officials, including the Architect of the Capitol, that he plans to fully re-open the House of Representatives to the public on January 3rd, assuming that Republicans re-take the House in the midterm elections.
"Earlier this week, our country voted for new leadership. I am committed to heeding our constituents' concerns and getting our nation back on track, starting with the operations and management of the House of Representatives itself. As such, beginning on January 3, 2023, the People's House must once again be open to the American public," McCarthy said in the letter.
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Hammill called the letter an attempt to distract from the Republican Party's performance in the midterm elections.
"The Minority Leader's incoherent letter is nothing more than a desperate attempt to distract from the unmitigated disaster that was his party's performance in the midterm election – one that only looks worse as ballots continue to get counted," Hammill said. "Now, after bungling the election, the Minority Leader would rather intimidate the professionals who run the House than get to work on the issues that voters just told us are on their minds."
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Pelosi's spokesperson said that under the House Speaker's leadership, she has taken common-sense and science-based steps to reopen the U.S. Capitol Complex.
Hammill also said that McCarthy may be speaking too soon, and shouldn't bet on the fact he'll be in the majority.
"And in case he's already forgotten, the Minority Leader is still the Minority Leader – and he shouldn’t count his chickens before they hatch," Hammill said.
