On Wednesday, Jim Jordan, a strong foe of Democratic President Joe Biden, and Steve Scalise, the chamber’s No. 2 Republican, announced that they would run for the position of House Speaker, replacing the expelled Kevin McCarthy.
In what may turn out to be a protracted and ugly contest to fill the position in the House where Republicans control a majority, the two lawmakers may be joined by a number of other contenders.
The historic removal of McCarthy from his position as the chamber’s leader—which comes after the vice president and is second in line to the presidency—on Tuesday was motivated by a dissident group of McCarthy’s fellow Republicans.
Republicans have scheduled a vote for October 11 to select a replacement and are scheduled to meet the day before the vote to hear from candidates.
The leadership battle is reducing the amount of time lawmakers have to revise agriculture subsidies and nutrition programs, among other responsibilities, before the government’s funding runs out on November 18.
Long seen as McCarthy’s heir apparent, Scalise, 57, who is undergoing cancer treatment, has been meeting with Republicans in private to garner support for his candidacy. He is seen as being more traditional than McCarthy.
He suffered serious injuries in 2017 when a Republican critic on social media opened fire on him and several politicians from the same party as they were practicing for a baseball game.
To put the nation back on the right track, “we all must come together & pull in the same direction,” he wrote in a message to Republicans.
FORMER WRESTLER
Former collegiate wrestler Jordan, 59, first rose to prominence as a leader of the party’s right side before striking an alliance with McCarthy. Jordan has led probes into the Biden administration. He is an outspoken admirer of former President Donald Trump and is renowned for shunning suit coats.
He is engaged in an impeachment inquiry of Biden as chair of the Judiciary Committee and has clashed with state prosecutors who have brought charges against Trump.
“We can cooperate to provide effective solutions while concentrating on the reforms that benefit the nation. But whatever we decide to do, we must act as a conference and do it together.
Both could encounter difficulties.
Jordan is perceived as being too much to the right by some moderates and too close to McCarthy by other hardliners. According to a Republican politician who spoke on the record under the condition of anonymity, Scalise is viewed by McCarthy’s allies as having done nothing to support him during the leadership fight and faces concerns about his physical fitness for the position.
Representative Kevin Hern, who is in charge of a conservative legislators’ policy group, also declared he was thinking about running.
I believe we should be pointing our firearms outward rather than at one another, he told the press.
Following McCarthy’s resignation, Representative Patrick McHenry is acting as speaker pro tem.
Class and rank According to Republicans, they were considering their alternatives.
Republican Representative Dan Crenshaw observed, “Everyone is just taking a breath and in listening mode, without any serious commitments.”
ANXIETY WITH GOVERNANCE
McCarthy’s dismissal is the most recent event that has Wall Street concerned about American political governance, following this weekend’s narrowly avoided a partial federal government shutdown and an earlier confrontation that brought the country dangerously close to default.
These anxieties, together with anxiety over interest rates, have contributed to a persistent decline in the price of government bonds.
Two-thirds of Americans believe that Washington officials cannot put aside their ideological differences to accomplish their jobs, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll issued on Wednesday.
The position of speaker has been challenging for Republicans recently. Paul Ryan, the last Republican speaker, left office after having trouble cooperating with Trump, another Republican. John Boehner, his predecessor, resigned following disagreements with the party’s conservative side.
To make it more challenging to remove a speaker, some Republicans argued that the chamber’s rules needed to be changed. As a condition of receiving support for the position in January, McCarthy agreed to reduce that bar, allowing any one member to challenge his leadership candidacy. This opened the door for Representative Matt Gaetz to do just that.
Republican Representative Kelly Armstrong stated that whoever receives her support for the speaker will have to explain to her how to ensure that what happened yesterday never occurs again.
To avoid a federal shutdown on Saturday, McCarthy, who had a slim 221-212 majority, needed Democratic support. This infuriated Gaetz and other hard-right Republicans.
Republicans and Democrats alike cast votes for the speaker, who would remain in office until the start of January 2025, barring their own removal. As he did in January, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is anticipated to oppose any Republican nominee made by the party conference.