NY Rep. Malliotakis urges GOP unity as she enters conference vice chair race

Staten Island GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis is seeking to unite the conference if given the chance to serve as its next vice chair — and believes her congressional district has provided the ideal proving ground.

Malliotakis told The Post in an exclusive Monday interview that House Republicans have a winning message on some of the most important issues facing the country, but have lost ground through weeks of infighting after the ouster of then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

“Right now we have the leverage with the appropriations process,” she said. “And that is what frustrated me so much about losing the three weeks that we did.”

In order to grow their majority, Malliotakis urged the Republican conference to press forward with “messaging around what unites us,” as they are led by newly installed Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who previously held the vice chair position.

Malliotakis replaced Democratic Rep. Max Rose in 2021 and says she has held her seat in New York’s contested 11th district, which also includes parts of Brooklyn, by pushing relentlessly for common sense policies that the majority of Americans want.

“They want us to address energy independence and reduce energy costs,” she said. “They want us to secure this border, stop this mass migration that is crushing cities like ours. And is just unsustainable and unsafe.”

“They want us to support our law enforcement, to crack down on crime, and reduce wasteful excessive spending so we can tackle inflation and make this country more affordable for families.”

She also highlighted the need to provide further defense funding to Israel and Ukraine amid their ongoing wars, while providing oversight to make sure the funds are appropriately used. 

The Biden administration, she said, “should be doing classified briefings with us on a regular basis” on Ukraine and have “a strategy in place to make sure that we win this war.”

As a former New York State representative and public relations professional, Malliotakis believes she has the capability to drive those points home as a communicator for House Republican leadership.

Malliotakis served in the state’s General Assembly for a decade after having worked in public affairs for former New York Gov. George Pataki.

In an Oct. 25 letter to her colleagues, she also emphasized her district’s placement “in the major media market of New York City” was ideal.

“I’ve played an important role here in New York City being a counter viewpoint,” Malliotakis also told The Post, contrasting herself with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

“Because of the role I’ve played in messaging here in New York City, we’ve been able to flip four assembly seats within my congressional district,” she added. “In 2020, I was the only Republican that was elected in Brooklyn — and we are now eight of us.”

“We’ve been able to grow the Republican Party, and take and flip seats, because we’re on message. … And I think that’s a model that we can share with the rest of the country.”

Malliotakis stressed that House Republicans had missed an opportunity to leverage that public support during the battle over government funding in September, which was bypassed by eight members of their conference.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and seven other GOP lawmakers removed McCarthy as speaker after he passed a “clean” government spending bill, known as a continuing resolution, on a bipartisan basis.

But Malliotakis said the House GOP members had a choice at that point to implement “border security changes” and cut “excessive spending” with an earlier resolution that was rejected.

“I think a lot of the senators, including some Democrats, see the need to secure the border, and having sent something over, I think we would have gotten something back that could have been that could have been something to celebrate,” she explained.

Asked whether she would support changes to the rules around the motion to vacate another House speaker, Malliotakis deferred to Republican leadership.

“​​I think there has to be a discussion with the speaker and the leadership team,” she answered. “I personally think that it’s not helpful when you can just disrupt proceedings and force a vote on something without having a plan in place to make sure that vote is successful for the conference.”

Johnson told Fox News last week that “everyone” in the GOP conference has also expressed to him the need to change the rule.

Other declared candidates in the vice chair contest include Reps. Mark Alford of Missouri, Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma, Beth Van Duyne of Texas, Michelle Fischbach of Minnesota and Brian Mast of Florida.

The conference will host a candidate forum for the vice chair position on Nov. 7, with a vote on their nominee to be held the following day.