Unlike House Freedom Caucus, Louie Gohmert Sticks To Principles With Daniel Webster Endorsement

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) is sticking to his principles and will follow through with his endorsement of former Florida House Speaker Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL) on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“Since the beginning of this contested race for Speaker of the House, it has been my pledge to support Congressman Daniel Webster,” Gohmert said in a lengthy statement on Thursday evening.

“Dan is the only person I am aware of who has ever been a Speaker anywhere and [he] decentralized power to get it back in the hands of its members. Speaker [John] Boehner is no longer going to be Speaker because he was too powerful, and I simply cannot vote for a candidate who demands more power before he agrees to be Speaker. I am a man of my word, and my support is still with Dan. He is the person who can return power to its rightful place – [the] members who represent the American people.”

Technically, the House Freedom Caucus has endorsed Webster for Speaker.

But a “supermajority” of the caucus backed down from their original principles on Wednesday evening, to support a now-official speakership bid from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the House Ways and Means Committee chairman.

Webster told members of the Conservative Opportunity Society (COS) on Wednesday morning he is still running for Speaker, but on Thursday his office hasn’t commented on the matter. Spokeswoman Elizabeth Tyrrell hasn’t responded to a request for comment on whether Webster is still running.

But Gohmert said he and others plan to stand with Webster.

“As pointed out in the Texas Delegation’s joint release, the group reached a ‘consensus’ but two of us made commitments to Dan we will keep,” Gohmert said.

“Chairman Ryan was a leader in pushing the Wall Street bailout, supported Barney Frank’s same-sex agenda, voted for legislation that would have allowed the District of Columbia to have a United States Representative, even though the U.S. Constitution clearly states that ‘representatives shall be from the several States’, and he is supported by some of the most liberal Democrats because of his amnesty stance. Though Chairman Ryan is smart, articulate, a great father and husband, our country is in trouble and sadly, he has been on the wrong side of extremely critical issues and indicates he requires more autonomy than even John Boehner.”