The historic and embarrassing dismissal of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House of Representatives leaves an open wound within the Republican Party that will be difficult to heal. Ahead, uncertainty in abundance and the paralysis of the Lower House, which will not be able to continue operating without a speaker at the helm. The main problem now is the lack of a clear candidate or a specific date for when they will be able to vote for the new leader. There is talk of next Wednesday and four names to replace the congressman from California, everything bathed in a dense layer of confusion.
The only one who has taken a step forward is Jim Jordan, representative of Ohio, on a potential list in which Steve Scalise, from Louisiana, the number two in the House of Representatives, Tom Emmer, from Minnesota and Elise Stefanik have also been mentioned. , congresswoman from New York, the only woman who at the moment points to a possible replacement for McCarthy. The former president has made it clear that he will not run again.
“Unfortunately, 4% of our caucus can join the Democrats and dictate who will be the Republican speaker in this House,” lamented the one from Bakersfield after the vote to remove him. “I don’t regret having negotiated or trying to reach consensus.”
His words are a clear warning of what may be to come. It matters little who is chosen by the party. The new speaker will arrive knowing that he will have to submit to the scrutiny of the radical wing of the party, the same one that ended up sentencing McCarthy after nine months of obstacles and a dysfunctional mandate. During that time, they have not only made clear his opposition to the leader in the House but also his lack of intention to carry out measures, including his refusal to grant a budget extension to avoid a partial closure of the Government.
From the moderate wing of the party they want to modify the rule to stop being at the mercy of the will of a few. “We are in favor of a rule that prevents a single person from proposing the removal of the speaker,” said Mark Alford, congressman from Missouri. “It should be a majority, 50% plus one, otherwise too much power is given to a few to be able to change the course of History. That was the Achilles heel that ended up costing McCarthy his job. We have to change that rule now.”
It’s either that or trying to reach an agreement with the Democrats in a clearly divided Congress, with a progressive majority in the Senate (51 to 49) and the Lower House in the hands of the conservatives (221 seats compared to 212), which further complicates further the equation and poses a scenario of governmental chaos.
A leader who will satisfy the wayward Republicans will have to bow to issues such as a drastic reduction in spending – which threatens to paralyze aid funds to Ukraine – or severe restrictions on immigration, among other things. If that new candidate gives in to these requests, the Democrats will try to block him, which would make it impossible to carry out any measure.
In the background, the latent threat of a possible closure of the Administration in mid-November after the extension agreed to last weekend, the same agreement that cost McCarthy his head. Eight were the party rebels who voted against him to join the Democrats. They have not ruled out their parliamentary leader for the position, Hakeem Jeffries, which would imply achieving the support of six moderate Republicans, an option that was already considered in January.
Meanwhile, in the halls of the Capitol the noise about the candidates’ dance did not stop. Both Emmer and Scalise have sounded strong. “For a time like this, Steve is the right man to lead our country,” said Tony González, representative of Texas, leaving aside the fact that he has blood cancer at 57 years old. He is also the favorite of Matt Gaetz, the leader of the no-confidence motion against McCarthy. “I’m not going to skip Steve Scalise just because he has blood cancer,” said the Florida native.
Other Republicans suggested looking beyond the Capitol, given the rule that allows the speaker not to be a congressman. And in those instances the name of former President Trump came up strongly. It was the proposal of Troy Nehls, from Texas, through X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “I nominate Donald J. Trump for Speaker of the House of Representatives,” he wrote, a motion seconded by Marjorie Taylor Greene, another of his party’s radicals. It is part of the chaos that reigns in the United States Congress.
