With help from Ella Creamer, Jesse Naranjo, Rishika Dugyala and Teresa Wiltz

What up, Recast family! At least 14 Americans have been killed in the Israel-Gaza conflict. The bloodshed comes amid the political quandary on Capitol Hill as the House GOP scrambles to find a successor to recently ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Today we talk to one of those House Republicans about the path forward on both of those fronts.

Two-term Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) is feeling vindicated in recent days after breaking with his party in January to vote down a House rules package.

That package, which he described to me as “complete madness” because of how easily now-former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s hold on the gavel could be challenged, is something he does not think either man seeking to lead the House will have to agree to.

To be clear, Gonzales is backing House Majority Leader Steve Scalise over Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chair of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, citing in a recent Fox Business interview Scalise’s battle with cancer, surviving an assassination attempt and his ability to “deal with a rough and rowdy House.”

The GOP conference’s vote for a House speaker, which got underway Wednesday morning, grows more urgent with each passing moment following this weekend’s deadly attack by Hamas militants on Israeli soil. President Joe Biden, in Tuesday afternoon remarks from the White House, confirmed that along with the 14 known Americans killed in the conflict so far, there are an unspecified number of Americans being held hostage by the militants.

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The U.S. is being increasingly drawn into the conflict, evidenced by my colleague Lara Seligman, who learned our military may soon have a second aircraft carrier in Mediterranean waters — signaling a dramatic intensification of military might in the region.

Gonzales, a Navy veteran and co-chair of the bipartisan Latino-Jewish Caucus that aims to strengthen ties between Latino and Jewish communities, publicly backs Israel, and also swiped at Biden for not acting more swiftly to rescue those Americans being held captive.

We also discuss why he believes the rapidly climbing death toll in the Israel-Gaza conflict is motivating House Republicans to quickly coalesce around a consensus leader — while also slamming the door shut on McCarthy’s return to the speakership.

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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

THE RECAST: You are one of the co-chairs of the Latino Jewish Caucus and you have echoed the official position that the U.S. stands with Israel. What role do you think the U.S. should play in this early going of the conflict?

GONZALES: I’ll not only echo some of the more mainstream responses, but I’ve gone a step further in a couple of ways. Americans were killed and there are Americans who also remain missing [and may be] hostages. So this is where the United States needs to act.

We need to rescue those Americans. This is about keeping Americans safe.

Getting Americans out of captivity, protecting Americans abroad, protecting Americans at home – these are all things that I think should unite our country and not divide us further.

THE RECAST: You’re a retired cryptologist in the Navy who attained the rank of chief petty officer. And what you are saying is that American troops need to go into the war zone and rescue those Americans that have been captured or that are trapped in the middle of this conflict? That’s what you’re advocating for?

GONZALES: If an American is a hostage, we — the United States — need to get those hostages out.

I’ve spent my whole career, my whole life, with a mindset: leave no American behind. And if [anyone] were ever held in a hostage situation, don’t lose faith because America is never going to stop looking for you. And we’re never going to stop doing everything we can to get you back and that’s where we need to be.

We’re kind of just in this holding pattern. I don’t understand. I’m of the mindset we need to retrieve our American hostages.

THE RECAST: Congress has the power to declare war. And I know you’re not saying that. But Congress would be able to weigh in — if there were a speaker in place. Do you feel the conflict overseas has focused the Republican-led House to expedite this leadership selection, unlike what we saw back in January?

GONZALES: You know, I think the leadership race between what we saw in January and what we’re seeing unfold now is a night-and-day difference for two reasons. The obvious that you mentioned is this conflict in Israel has really heightened the realities of the world and the necessity of having a functioning body.

The more chaotic we are, the more we invite those that hate us to take advantage of that situation. So it does raise the stakes … a little more focused for Republicans to get through this.

The second piece that I’d say is, former Speaker McCarthy from Day One — from Day One, it was just madness. I don’t see that in either of the candidates that we have.

I’m a Steve Scalise guy, pushing hard for him. Not one person I’ve talked to that is backing Jim Jordan is saying they won’t vote for Steve Scalise on the floor. And not one Steve Scalise supporter that I’ve spoken with has said they’re not going to vote for Jim Jordan on the floor, if he wins. So I think the dynamics, while it’s still very fresh in our mind on McCarthy’s race, I think this is completely different.

THE RECAST: What do you make of Kevin McCarthy not ruling out another run of this?

GONZALES: He never said that. If anything, I’ve heard him say, “I’m not a candidate.”

I thought he did the right thing when he said, “For the betterment of the country, I’m going to step aside.” At no point have I heard him say he is going to run or anything like that.

That ship has sailed.

THE RECAST: If there is no unity are you worried this is going to have a long-lasting effect on Republicans? And give Democrats the ability to say: Republicans can’t govern, that’s why they don’t deserve to have the majority?

GONZALES: It’s not like Democrats can govern themselves. I mean, look at the chaos over in the Senate. You literally have a Democrat senator [Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey] that everyone’s calling for him to resign. So I wouldn’t necessarily call them the model governing body.

THE RECAST: In January, you were the only Republican to vote against having the motion to vacate — which allows anyone who has any issue with the House speaker to introduce a motion and bring a vote to oust the speaker. Do you think either Scalise or Jordan will have to agree to that again to satisfy the right flank of the party?

GONZALES: I voted against the rules package back in January because I thought it was complete madness for anyone to take the job with that level of hostage holding over their [speakership].

I’d argue now the bulk of the conference is in that same spot where we don’t want to see that chaos happening again. I think the people that had issues with McCarthy don’t have issues with Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise.

THE GOP’S CONTEST IS GETTING LESS DIVERSE

The GOP presidential field is shrinking — and getting less diverse.

Will Hurd formally suspended his presidential campaign after being unable to gain traction and failing to meet the donor and fundraising requirements to make the first two GOP debates.

He threw his support behind former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Hurd is the second candidate of color to end his White House bid after Miami Mayor Francis Suarez did so at the end of August.

In a fundraising message to supporters a day after announcing he was effectively ending his White House run, Hurd asked backers to support Haley while flexing his own Never-Trump bona fides.

“It has become clear to me that our party now needs to unite around one candidate,” his fundraising blast read. “Nikki has my full support. I hope you will join me by chipping in $5 to help her win today.”

Hurd, who is biracial (his father is Black and his mother is white), helped make the GOP’s field the most diverse in recent memory.

It is notable that Hurd did not throw his support behind Sen. Tim Scott, whom he served with in Congress and who is also in danger of missing next month’s third presidential debate in Miami.

On Tuesday, Scott sought to flex his foreign policy chops and take aim at two of his higher-polling rivals, Gov. Ron DeSantis for his past comments on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy for saying the U.S. needed to scale up its support of Israel. Scott says both his rivals would project American weakness on the world stage.

Scott, Haley, Ramaswamy and conservative radio talk show host Larry Elder are the remaining presidential candidates of color still seeking the GOP nomination.

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