A group of House Republicans are privately attempting to change the conference’s internal rules, hoping to save their next speaker from embarrassing floor defeats.

Dozens of House Republicans are quietly pushing a temporary change that would raise the requirements to earn the party’s recommendation for speaker, according to three Republicans familiar with the matter. Under current rules, the House GOP meets in private to decide on a candidate for speaker by a two-thirds vote. The group wants to instead raise that threshold to 218 of the GOP’s 221 votes.

The potential speaker would still need to get 218 votes in a public floor vote, but the group’s hope is that raising that required support in the conference meeting means any fighting would happen behind closed doors, avoiding the public spectacle and humiliation of a dragged-out floor vote.

“What it boils down to is: Are we going to square everything away in the locker room before going onto the field?” one House Republican put it, granted anonymity to discuss internal strategy.

Still, getting there wouldn’t be easy, with disparate wings of the party pushing different candidates to move the party forward after Kevin McCarthy’s ouster. Those Republicans acknowledge they still need to suss out the ground rules, like how to handle absences and multiple rounds of voting. The conference election, where Republicans will cast secret ballots for speaker, is currently expected Wednesday.

“No repeat of January,” another member said.

Currently, Republicans are circulating a letter requesting the conference meet to consider achieving the 218 threshold in conference. Key names involved include centrist Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and conservative Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas).

Republicans are expected to begin having in-person conference meetings Monday night, where such matters will be raised.

Related posts:

Democrats plow ahead with a party-line Covid relief package Cruz delays vote on U.N. nominee Thomas-Greenfield as impeachment trial looms ‘Politics isn’t about the weird worship of one dude’: Sasse shoots down Nebraska censure motion ‘The Democratic version of John McCain’ The power of 10: Inside the ‘unlikely partnership’ that sealed an infrastructure win House Dem moderates lay out battle lines as Pelosi stands firm Dems trip over their own sky-high expectations GOP senator: Dems need to worry about voting rights in their home states Grassley privately investigating Garcetti, wants nomination held McConnell’s $1.5B phone call: How Congress supercharged its Ukraine aid deal Lawmakers fret over another holiday punt on government funding ‘Not a tech-savvy group’: Cruz discredits congress on AI