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U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin Endorses Trey Gowdy For House Majority Leader

authorAlisha Steindecker on Sep 29, 2015

Like many other Republican congressmen, U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin on Tuesday announced his support for Trey Gowdy of South Carolina to be the next majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The scramble to fill that position comes just days after House Speaker John Boehner surprised many in the party by suddenly announcing his resignation last week. The current majority leader, Kevin McCarthy, is a leading candidate to replace Mr. Boehner, which would leave his position vacant.

“Since being sworn in to Congress this past January, I have gotten to know Congressman Trey Gowdy well, and have experienced firsthand how he is an effective leader with tremendous intellect, moral character, charisma, vision and heart,” Mr. Zeldin said in a statement released on Tuesday.

“The Republican Party, but more importantly, our country, would be remarkably well served with Trey as majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives. Trey is a talented and incredibly bright fighter who will move our country in a better direction. If Congressman Gowdy chooses to run for leader, he has my full support.”

Congressman Gowdy, like Representative Zeldin, is a conservative Republican who has sponsored legislation that would allow the House of Representatives to sue the president if it disagreed with his enforcement of the law. He currently is a supporter of federally defunding Planned Parenthood and will actively vote to shut the government down if it fails to do so.

Mr. Gowdy is also known for his investigation into the Benghazi killings on September 11, 2012, in which four Americans were killed by Islamist militants when they invaded the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.

“You are the company that you keep, and Congressman Zeldin’s endorsement of Tea Party Congressman Trey Gowdy for a leadership position is just the latest on a growing list of Zeldin’s far-right wing associations,” Meredith Kelly, of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in a release on Tuesday. “As Zeldin continues to cozy up to fringe Republicans–whether Gowdy, the Oath Keepers, or even Donald Trump — he only makes it increasingly clear that he is out of step with Long Islanders.”

Mr. Zeldin has not yet announced who he will support for the position of Speaker of the House.

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