Rep. Mary Peltola is being ordered back to work by her Democrat caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she will be required to vote for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries for House Speaker.
Peltola has been missing from work for nearly a month, after the tragic death of her husband, Gene Peltola, in September.
An email went out from House Democratic Whip Minority Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, saying, “Each member of our Caucus must be physically present on the Floor for next week’s proceedings. Many of you have made tremendous sacrifices to continue to be in Washington, and these have not gone unnoticed. We understand that the uncertainty of this schedule is challenging. Any change to this expected timing will be communicated as soon as we receive it.”
Peltola has already voted for radical Rep. Jeffries of Queens, New York numerous times in January, when the House was trying to elect a new speaker. It’s certain she will again, as the House struggles for direction subsequent to the removal of Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker last week by eight Freedom Caucus Republicans who joined with all Democrats who were present and voting. Peltola was not present for the vote to remove McCarthy.
Rep. Clark thanked House Democrats for sticking together in unity and asked them to remain united next week. On Tuesday evening, the Democrat caucus will have an organizational meeting to nominate Jeffries.
Meanwhile, on the Republican side, both Rep. Steve Scalise and Rep. Jim Jordan have thrown their names in the ring for Speaker. Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Jordan, the leader of the Freedom Caucus. Scalise, of Louisiana, is the current House Majority Leader, making him the No. 2-ranking House Republican. He was shot and gravely wounded in an attempted assassination in 2017 by a Democrat with hatred of Republicans. After a long, slow recovery, Scalise was recently diagnosed with a form of blood cancer known as multiple myeloma and is going through aggressive treatment, which he says is going well.
