The US House Speaker nomination drama will likely continue since nineteen Republican House members voted against their own Kevin McCarthy, who was expected to be nominated as the US House Speaker.
McCarthy himself was confident that he would be chosen and he also relocated his office to the Speaker’s office which was recently vacated by Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
The US House Speaker is an important figure in American politics since the person is second in line to the presidency.
The 19 Republican lawmakers who voted against McCarthy were - Andy Biggs (Arizona), Dan Bishop (North Carolina), Lauren Boebert (Colorado), Josh Brecheen (Oklahoma), Michael Cloud (Texas), Eli Crane (Arizona), Andrew Clyde (Georgia), Byron Donalds (Florida), Matt Gaetz (Florida), Bob Good (Virginia), Paul Gosar (Arizona), Andy Harris (Maryland), Anna Paulina Luna (Florida), Mary Miller (Illinois), Ralph Norman (South Carolina), Andy Ogles (Tennessee), Scott Perry (Pennsylvania), Matt Rosendale (Montana), Chip Roy (Texas) and Keith Self (Texas).
Following the GOP’s inability to select a speaker after three ballots, three contenders, according to the Hill, could be selected as US House Speaker.
Steve Scalise, who is the House Majority leader, could be the natural second option instead of McCarthy. The Republican from Louisiana is an ally of McCarthy and has vowed to support him till the end. Though he has a fundraising apparatus that would compliment his speakership, if selected, he still has to win over Republicans who believe that Scalise and McCarthy are the two sides of the same coin.
Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican, has seen some support even though he, like Scalise, have not even announced a speakership bid. He failed in his speakership bid in 2018 when he lost to Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan. But on Tuesday, Lauren Boebert, Michael Cloud, Mary Miller, Andy Ogles, Anna Paulina Luna and Keith Self voted for him in the first ballot.
The Hill’s report said North Carolina Republican Patrick McHenry could also become the House Speaker if the Republicans face a ‘break-glass-in-case-of-emergency’ situation. The report described him as a ‘ladder-climber’ and the Republican himself announced that he wants to focus on agendas instead of going for the top US Congress job. He said earlier he wants the top spot on the House Financial Services Committee but not the position of US House Speaker.
Read all the Latest News here