As Republicans struggled for a second day to elect a House speaker, Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida emerged as the choice of conservative holdouts who are refusing to support Kevin McCarthy’s bid.

Asked by CNN's Erin Burnett on Monday night whether those around the President were essentially forced to lie in order to defend Trump, Amash replied, "Yeah, and it's a shame." Amash left the Republican Party this past summer and became an independent after he became the sole GOP lawmaker to publicly argue that Trump had engaged in impeachable conduct. "I think they know better and I think, deep down, they wish they weren't, you know, trapped in this position," Amash said on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront." I hear them talk about how they wish they weren't doing this." "Anyone working in this administration is going to have a hard time explaining what's going on," Amash told Burnett.

CNN(CNN) - Rep. Francis Rooney, a Florida Republican who appears open to impeaching President Donald Trump, said Sunday that what he's seen so far in the ongoing Trump-Ukraine scandal is "quite troubling." CNN's Jake Tapper asked Rooney on "State of the Union" if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hypothetically called a vote tomorrow to launch an impeachment inquiry, "How do you think you'd go?" Rooney said he wasn't "100% sure right this second." The congressman said last week that Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, confirmed Thursday what Trump had denied -- that the President engaged in a quid pro quo with Ukraine. Mulvaney later sought to walk back his remarks, but Rooney said Sunday that "I don't see how you walk back something that is clear."

CNNWASHINGTON (CNN) - Florida Republican Rep. Francis Rooney said Saturday he would not run for reelection, after suggesting he could be open to impeaching President Donald Trump. "I've done what I came to do," Rooney told Fox News. The congressman said he wanted to be a "model for term limits," and added: "People need to realize ... this is public service not public life." His statement was a striking one among House Republicans defensive of Trump. The congressman said Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, confirmed Thursday what Trump had denied -- that the President engaged in a quid pro quo with Ukraine.

(CNN) - Rep. Francis Rooney is one of the few Republicans in the House of Representatives who seems open to the impeachment of President Donald Trump. He knows that speaking out against Trump may end his career as a Republican in Congress, but he wants to see where the investigation leads. He's one of the few House Republicans devoted to combating climate change. Taylor suggested in text messages released to the House investigation that Trump was holding back the package of military aid to Ukraine to influence Zelensky. When asked about the State Department officials coming in as witnesses, Rooney said "these are not partisan people" but "professional diplomats."

It was the first time the White House acknowledged a link between the withheld aid and probes that Trump sought. "You don't hold up foreign aid that we had previously appropriated for a political initiative," said GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Republican Rep. Francis Rooney of Florida called Mulvaney's acknowledgment about withholding Ukraine aid "troubling," saying it is "not a good thing" to do that in connection "with threatening foreign leaders." Over the past few weeks, Republicans on Capitol Hill have defended the President, claiming there was no quid pro quo between Trump and Ukraine. "To date, every single witness, every single fact has not supported any pause or holdup on foreign aid being attached to any conditions," he said.