PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) Local politicians are sharing their thoughts on the recent ouster of Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker that you can read below:

Congressman Eric Sorensen (IL-17) released the following statement on his vote to vacate the office of the Speaker.  

Today, I solemnly joined my colleagues in voting to re-establish bipartisanship and to bring order back to the House of Representatives. When I was first elected to Congress, I promised my neighbors that I would work with anyone, Democrat or Republican, who was interested in solving the real problems that my constituents face. Since day one, Speaker McCarthy has chosen the path of partisanship, chaos, and confusion. That is not what my constituents, nor the American people, should expect from Congress. I look forward to electing a Speaker that will bring us together to focus on lowering costs, strengthening our border, and giving working families the tools they need to succeed.

Congressman Eric Sorenson

Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-16) opposed the motion and released the following statement:

Using the Motion to Vacate to remove Speaker McCarthy with a majority of Democrat votes is a shameful maneuver that does a disservice to the American people and hinders the key conservative priorities that voters put a Republican Majority in the House to advance.

Under the Biden Administration and a Democrat-controlled Senate, the southern border is in crisis, violent crime is on the rise, and the Biden economy is harming working families. The House Republican Majority – led by Speaker McCarthy –  has been the only body in the federal government pushing back against the left-wing agenda coming from the White House. Today’s move by a few Members more concerned with clicks and soundbites, rather than working to achieve conservative policy victories, threatens to hand the House of Representatives back to Democrats. Hard-working Illinois families will pay the price for these political games.

I will continue to work in the days ahead to end this impasse and pursue solutions to the problems voters sent our Republican Majority to Washington to fix.

Congressman Darin LaHood

This story will be updated as more responses come in.