Who else is in the running for Speaker of the House? Alternative candidates to Kevin McCarthy
After Rep. Kevin McCarthy failed in thirteen ballots this week, we take a look at some other names who could enter the vote in the House.
The Republican Party faces a major challenge to party unity after three chastening days for GOP leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy in the House on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
McCarthy was the clear favorite to be elected as the new Speaker of the House, but he suffered defections from members of his own party. After thirteen votes he did not reach the 218 votes required to be named Speaker and the chamber was adjourned on Friday without a solution in sight.
This very public show of defiance from the right wing of the GOP has raised questions about McCarthy’s ability to lead in the coming session of Congress. With such a slim majority in the House, the Republicans can afford to lose just four votes from their 222-member caucus and retain a majority in votes.
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Who else could be Speaker of the House?
In the second and third votes on Tuesday, the rebel Republicans coalesced around Rep. Jim Jordan as their alternative candidate. Jordan was a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, of which many of the dissenting lawmakers are members. Jordan was also mentioned as a possible candidate on Wednesday, but wasn’t in contention on Thursday.
He is clearly a popular choice among that faction, but Jordan himself has insisted that he does not want the job. In the second ballot it was he who proposed McCarthy and he gave an impassioned speech to further his leader’s cause. For now, Jordan seems unlikely to be a realistic alternative.
Perhaps more likely is Rep. Steve Scalise, who is seen as the natural second option to McCarthy. He is experienced and could be an alternative for the ‘Never McCarthy’ members like Rep. Andy Biggs and Rep. Matt Gaetz, but he offers little that McCarthy does not.
Certainly the two men are close allies and have both played key roles within the Republican leadership in recent years. Given that much of the opposition to McCarthy centres on the way that the GOP has operated in recent years, Scalise would struggle to bring the dissenters back on side.
A more left-field candidate could by Rep. Patrick McHenry, who has maintained that he has no interest in taking the role of House Speaker. He is known to be ambitious but has his sights set on the House Financial Services Committee, where he believes he can have more of an influence.
Back in April McHenry told Punchbowl News: “Given the circumstance, I’m much more optimistic about the opportunities we have at Financial Services than the role that I could play at House Republican leadership.”
On Thursday a new candidate has emerged for the Republicans. Rep. Byron Donalds has already received votes from the hardliners, but doesn’t seem to be a strong alternative for the rest of the party members who continue to back McCarthy.
With no other clear candidates and the Democrats appearing resolutely united on the other side of the aisle. The most likely outcome of the protracted Speaker election is that McCarthy is eventually awarded the gavel by his party. But it remains to be seen how much bargaining, time and in-fighting will be required to reach a compromise.