Republicans in the House face another week of uncertainty as several members lined up as candidates to become the next speaker.
California Republican Kevin McCarthy, the former house speaker, endorsed Rep. Tom Emmer (R., Minn.) in an appearance on NBC News’ Meet the Press. “We need to get him elected this week and move on,” he said.
“This is not a time to play games,” McCarthy said. “This is embarrassing for the Republican party. It’s embarrassing for the nation.”
Lawmakers dropped Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) as the leading candidate on Friday after he failed to win enough votes on the floor to get the gavel. Republicans plan to meet again late Monday to hear from each of the candidates, with a possible party vote to nominate one of them as early as Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Congress faces a Nov. 17 deadline to figure out how to fund the government and a White House request for about $100 billion in aid for Israel, Ukraine, and border security but is unable to act on either without a speaker.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Kent.) told CBS News’ Face the Nation that the vacuum is “a problem, but I hope it’s going to get solved pretty quickly.”
Congress has been in chaos since Oct. 3, when a group of Republicans led by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida pushed the ouster of McCarthy from the role.
Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R., La.) was first to step up as a candidate but bowed out when he couldn’t secure enough support. Then Jordan stepped up, but his bid lost momentum late last week.
Emmer, the House majority whip, said on social media on Saturday that he was running to bring the conference together. “Our Conference remains at a crossroads and the deck is stacked against us,” he said in a post on X, the former Twitter.
Eight other candidates include Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, Rep. Jack Bergman of Michigan, Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia, Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, Rep. Gary Palmer of Alabama, and Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas.
Ohio Republican Rep. Mike Turner told CNN’s State of the Union that it’s going to be hard for anyone to get the needed 217 votes, assuming all lawmakers are present and voting. He also compared the House to high school. “Hopefully we’ll get past this,” he said.
“You know, getting to 217 is obviously going to be very difficult and is the sort of Rubik’s Cube of the answer to all of this,” Turner said.
Texas Republican Michael McCaul told ABC News’ This Week that the drama is “probably one of the most embarrassing things I’ve seen” in 10 terms in Congress.
Asked if he would work with Democrats to elect a speaker, McCaul said: “I’d rather it be the Republicans nominating and voting on the floor for a Republican speaker, but this can’t go on forever. I don’t know if we’re going to have a speaker next week. I don’t know how this plays out.”
Write to Liz Moyer at liz.moyer@barrons.com
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