Four unlikely speaker scenarios

Oct 13, 2023

After Majority Leader Steve Scalise dropped out of the House speaker race last night, attention quickly turned to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as being next in line.

A few other names have drifted into the conversation, as well, including Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) and Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), the acting speaker pro tempore, who for the first time cracked open the door to being drafted when he said Thursday, “it’s up to the will of the conference.”

Also hanging in the air are four other, more far-fetched scenarios that might resemble “West Wing” or “Veep” plot lines (we’re not quite sure which):

1. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) hasn’t let go of the fantasy of a Speaker Donald Trump. “At some point in time, we all need to lay down our weapons and call in the leader of our party and have him address our conference,” the congressman told CNN’s Manu Raju.

2. The “Only Kevin” crowd hasn’t let go of the fantasy of resurrecting former speaker Kevin McCarthy. They are circulating a new letter arguing for the restoration of the ousted GOP leader.

3. Democrats, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, continue to float the idea of lending their votes to a speaker candidate under a bipartisan governing arrangement. But things would have to get significantly more dysfunctional for this path to become viable. “All Republican options have to fail first,” one Democratic House member said last night.

4. Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) wants the House to vote on giving McHenry the full powers of a speaker for a set time period, perhaps 30 to 90 days. He says he’s been workshopping the details of the plan with the House parliamentarian. (Do note that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who orchestrated McCarthy’s ouster, has already expressed his displeasure with this plan.)

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