Eight House Republicans joined all Democrats to oust the ex-speaker last week
House Republicans concluded a nearly three-hour conference meeting on Monday night with a shared sense of urgency regarding the need to select a new speaker but with little consensus on other matters.
One of the prominent debates that emerged, less than 72 hours before the Republicans are scheduled to convene privately for their speaker election, revolves around whether to increase the threshold required to place a candidate on the House floor.
“I don’t believe we should be altering the rules in the midst of an election. I think that’s unwise. Additionally, I believe there is merit in members having to publicly declare their support by having their names announced,” remarked Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., who is endorsing Majority Leader Steve Scalise for Speaker. “A secret ballot doesn’t accomplish much, apart from providing an opportunity to express one’s views without being publicly identified.”
However, Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., who leads the pragmatic Main Street Caucus, expressed his inclination toward supporting the proposed change but had not yet made a final decision. He stated, “If it’s going to take us four days to reach 218 votes, I think everyone should agree that spending that much time on the House floor is less than optimal.” Johnson has not publicly disclosed his endorsement.
House Republicans are scheduled to convene on Wednesday morning for the election of their speaker candidate, using a secret ballot. Information obtained by US Newzs Digital suggests that House GOP leaders are contemplating an amendment to the current House rules, temporarily increasing the threshold required for victory from a simple majority to 217 or 218 votes.
Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was elected in a full House vote after 15 public rounds of voting over three days, following his selection by a simple majority vote within the House GOP caucus. However, he was ousted last week by eight members of his own party, with support from House Democrats.
Several lawmakers have indicated to US Newzs Digital that a vote on raising the threshold is anticipated to occur before the closed-door election.
Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern suggested that he was inclined to support the rule change. Hern argued that the ongoing crisis in the Middle East underscores the importance of Congress appearing united in its actions.
“The American people are currently quite fatigued by chaos if you will. I’m not sure it’s beneficial for American morale to witness turmoil in the Middle East, disorder in Israel, and then disorder here,” he remarked.
McCarthy ally Rep. John James, R-Mich., said he signed onto a GOP letter requesting the rule change to “very quickly get back to things that most Americans are concerned with.”
“We need to secure our border, we need to address our debt, we need to address our spending – and in order to do that, we have to make sure that before we go to the floor, we have enough votes to have a Republican Speaker,” he said.
But Rules Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., who also supported McCarthy as speaker, said lawmakers should not need to change conference rules to put on a united public front.
“We have not always gone into conference with the person who won the election, but I never contemplated not voting for that individual on the floor. Regardless of how much I may have disagreed with them, the conference made its decision, and they deserve my support for the role of speaker. We should return to that,” he stated.
Freshman Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., did not dismiss the idea but proposed imposing a seven-day time limit on the closed-door vote before taking it to the floor.
“It might contribute to unity within the conference, but I also think it’s wise to include some sort of exit strategy if this approach fails to produce a genuine speaker,” LaLota suggested.
Meanwhile, Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, who is endorsing Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, for the position of speaker, also floated the idea of giving lawmakers an additional week before casting their votes for speaker.
“I don’t believe we will have a speaker this week at all,” Miller stated.