House Speaker Vote Remains Contentious in Debate Among Republicans – Rolling Stone

War has erupted between Israel and Hamas, another government shutdown battle looms in the not-so-distant future, and the House of Representatives remains paralyzed by Republican infighting over the Speakership. 

A closed-door GOP meeting on Monday to discuss the party’s strategy for electing a new leader devolved into a grievance-laden “therapy session” over last week’s vote to remove former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), according to a report from Politico.

Republicans, who hold the slimmest of majorities in the House, are determined to avoid the kind of humiliating spectacle that played out in full view of the public during both McCarthy’s election earlier this year and his removal from the position last week. Some GOP lawmakers have even gone so far as to push for a rule change that would require a speakership candidate to have secured enough Republican “yes” votes from the party to secure their election before bringing their nomination to a floor vote. 

The trouble is in getting to that magic number of 217 votes. The party remains bitterly divided, and no consensus candidate has emerged from the chaos. Neither of the two frontrunners, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), have secured a commanding lead. The battle is so contentious that not even an endorsement from former President Donald Trump has been able to put Jordan on a clear winning path. 

According to a report from Punchbowl News, some GOP lawmakers have declared that they will outright refuse to support any candidate besides McCarthy, who initially announced after his removal that he would not seek re-election into the role, but hinted Monday he may not refuse another nomination by his colleagues.

Lawmakers are further divided on how long it will take to smooth over the divisions. On Monday, multiple Republicans entering the meeting voiced skepticism that a new speaker will have been elected by the end of the week. “This is gonna take a while to come to fruition,” Rep. Dan Bacon (R-Colo.) told CNN. “I don’t think it happens right away,” added Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.).

Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) called for House Republicans to take an extra week before attempting to bring a nominee to a floor vote.  “Let’s make sure that this conference has the right leadership in place that it takes to lead us to the next level,” Miller, who has publicly endorsed Jordan, told The Washington Post. 

By contrast, Scalise told Fox Business on Tuesday that he felt the House needed to make a decision by Wednesday. “Congress is not functioning without a Speaker. We need to get it done,” he said. 

“The conversations I am having with members are really focused on how we get back on track,” Scalise added. “What’s the goal? What’s the vision? […] Clearly I’ve got a background in bringing people together, in moving our agenda forward and getting things back on track.” 

Many lawmakers agree that speed is paramount. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) told Punchbowl News that in a time of international crisis the continued dysfunction in the House was harming American legitimacy abroad. “This is what the ayatollah wants. It’s what Chairman Xi, when he talks about […[ that democracy doesn’t work. We need to prove them wrong. And we need to get a speaker by Wednesday.”