Smith laments stalled agenda with no House Speaker

One of the most prominent U.S. House Republicans, Southeast Missouri Rep. Jason Smith, made his thoughts clear as the stalemate in the U.S. House of Representatives speaker election dragged into the weekend.

Ohio GOP member Jim Jordan on Friday, Oct. 20 lost his third floor vote to take the job, second in line to the presidency, faring worse in the most recent round of voting than in two previous failed attempts.

The end-of-week results have prompted an expected Tuesday, Oct. 24, vote to select a new GOP nominee, according to reports.

"More than 96% of House Republicans wanted to avoid the situation we find ourselves in today," wrote Smith in a late Friday afternoon e-mail message to the Southeast Missourian. "Thanks to the action of just over 3% of our (GOP) members and 100% of House Democrats, our conservative agenda is stalled. I strongly supported Jim Jordan and believe he was the best choice to lead our party as did more than 90% of House Republicans. We must get back to work as soon as possible to secure our borders, make our nation's cities safe again, rein in out-of-control spending and put a check on Washington bureaucrats who are running roughshod over the lives and livelihoods of Missourians."

Smith came to Congress in 2013 representing the 8th House District, covering 28 southcentral and southeast Missouri counties.

He was elected to chair one of the lower chamber's most powerful committees, House Ways and Means, in January.