Speaker Showdown: Race Consolidates to Two Candidates
House Republicans - aided by a Democratic caucus united in opposition to the Republican majority - have sacked Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-20) as Speaker of the House. This is the first time in our nation's history that a speaker of the House has ever been voted out of office.
In a 216 - 210 vote on Tuesday, October 3, the U.S. House of Representatives declared the 'office of the Speaker to be vacant.' In the end, 8 Republicans joined all Y Democrats present for the vote in ousting McCarthy from his position.
Read the Constitution Partners alert how we found ourselves in this situation here
Today, the two declared candidates to assume McCarthy’s role are Representative Steve Scalise (R-LA-01) and Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH-04). It’s worth noting that before endorsing Jim Jordan for the role, President Trump flirted with the prospect after his name was floated as a prospective candidate for Speaker.
Fox News’ Bret Baier was to host a private debate between the three candidates Monday night, but that was called off after uproar in the caucus. We believe the caucus is still hosting a private forum Tuesday evening with an internal party election on Wednesday. There has not been a floor vote for speaker scheduled yet.
Currently, no one has a lock on the nomination. At the time of this publication, Jim Jordan has received 39 confirmed endorsements, Scalise has 31, and both McCarthy and Trump have one endorsement each. You can follow the live tracker here.
In an unlikely, long-shot proposal, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-08) wrote an opinion piece proposing a “bipartisan governing coalition” in light of the recent deposal and ongoing infighting within the Republican conference.
To combat the disfunction, some Republican members are proposing internal rule changes. One example of reform is for the conference to require 218 votes within a private vote to earn the party’s recommendation for speaker. The logic there is that 218 is the threshold to win the speakership in a floor vote, thus avoiding the 15 vote series it took to choose a speaker in January 2023. Another proposal is to remove the ‘motion to vacate’ tactic to that resulted in McCarthy’s historic ouster.
One thing is certain – this debacle has sucked the oxygen for legislative progress out of Capitol Hill. Floor activity has come to a grinding halt in the leaderless House; bills are being introduced, but none are being referred to committees. With 41 days left in the continuing resolution that funds the government until November 17, lawmakers will be hard pressed to successfully pass the rest of the appropriations bills that negotiators remain far apart on. We’ll know more on timing and possible legislative activities if and when the House elects its new Speaker next
