Washington DC, United States: The race to choose a speaker for the US House of Representatives will restart on Monday, October 23, after being paralyzed for three weeks due to party infighting among Republicans.
It is anticipated that the return of the speaker in the chamber will address the funding needs of the federal government, Israel and Ukraine.
The chamber has been working without a leader since October 3, following the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, because of the factional strife between right-wing hardliners and more mainstream Republicans.
The chamber remained leaderless after these Republicans derailed leadership bids by two would-be successors – Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan.
This vacuum has become one of the major concerns for congressional action as the deadline to avoid a government shutdown by extending federal agency funding. It has also stopped the processing of the request from President Joe Biden to approve the military aid for Ukraine and Israel.
A Republican, Michael McCaul, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, “This is probably one of the most embarrassing things I’ve seen,” according to ABC’s “This Week”. McCaul added, “We’re essentially shut down as a government.”
Beginning of task again
According to the sources closely associated with the authorities, the Republican nominee will start the job of choosing a House speaker on Monday at 6:30 pm EST (2230 GMT). At this time, nine declared candidates will appear at a closed-door candidate forum.
Kevin McCarthy’s support for Tom Emmer
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has extended his support towards Number 3 House Republican Tom Emmer. He outlined Emmer’s experience in working to marshal party votes on major legislation since January, the time when Republicans became the majority party in the House.
He was quoted saying at NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ “This is not a moment in time to play around with learning on the job.” McCarthy added, “It’s going to be an uphill battle.”
Uncertainty whether Republicans will get 217 votes
According to various reports, it is not clear whether any Republican candidate can get 217 votes – the number of votes needed to claim the gavel. It is to be noted that the narrow majority in the House is 221-212.
Reportedly, a nominated candidate by the party conference can afford to lose no more than four Republicans when the full House votes, according to Reuters. Reportedly, the conference is split over some hot-button issues, including spending cuts and Ukraine funding.
Matt Gaetz’s remark on Jim Jordan’s failed efforts to become US House speaker
Jim Jordan failed thrice to win the floor vote inside the House. Following the continuous failure of Jordan, the Republican who led the ouster of McCarthy, Matt Gaetz, informed the reports that he was “knifed by secret ballot.”
It is to be noted that Jordan was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, who is clearly the nomination for the 2024 presidential elections. Democrats’ thoughts were quite different, as they described Jordan as a dangerous extremist.
It is to be noted that seven out of nine Speaker candidates, Jack Bergman, Byron Donalds, Kevin Hern, Mike Johnson, Dan Meuser, Gary Palmer and Pete Sessions, contributed towards the voting process to overturn Donald Trump’s loss to President Joe Biden in 2020, according to the reports by Reuters.
However, the remaining candidates – Tom Emmer and Austin Scott, did not vote.
Several reports have claimed that 2023 was a year of chaos for House Republicans. In January, Kevin McCarthy needed 15 votes to win the gavel. After a few months, he was removed by eight Republicans for passing legislation with Democratic support that averted a partial government shutdown.
US President Joe Biden has appealed to the Republicans to be united and end this chaos.