Exclusive: AOC says Republican chaos shows how reasonable progressives like the Squad are

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “I think, whether you're Democrat, Republican or independent, what this whole episode really indicates and shows us is, again, just how bad faith and substantive some substance-less the argument and accusation is that progressives are, are just as bad as, as these insurrectionists Republicans.” That doesn’t mean that progressives don’t fight when they think it is necessary, Ms Ocasio-Cortez said. open image in gallery Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has at times been pictured laughing on the House floor during the Republican impasse – but she says there are serious downsides to the failure to elect a Speaker “When we make demands and pull the line on something, it is based on policy on substance, and something that frankly, usually every time has a path of possibility,” she said. We cannot conduct constituent casework to the same extent that we would otherwise and as a result, the longer this goes on, the more real impact there is and the more people are going to suffer.” open image in gallery Kevin McCarthy’s failed bids to become Speaker reached double figures on Thursday evening Ms Ocasio-Cortez entered Congress in 2019 after she defeated House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley in a primary. Matt Gaetz calls Kevin McCarthy 'desperate' amid bid to become House speaker But Ms Ocasio-Cortez has joined every member of the Democratic caucus in voting for Mr Jeffries’s nomination as speaker.