Good day all. The fight over the next Speaker of the House is continuing, with Kevin McCarthy still unable to close the deal. He has yet to gain enough votes to be elected, and rumors are that some of those publicly supporting him might not if someone better comes along.
McCarthy is not considered an Ultra MAGA Deplorable style of Republican. He’s a Kalifornistan spineless RINO squish, who will say and do anything to get ahead. This is one of the reasons he isn’t getting the votes he needs. Now it looks like someone else may be available. Here are the details from the Washington Examiner:
As House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy seeks to fend off intraparty opposition to his bid to become the next House speaker, several Republicans are reportedly huddling behind another top member of their party for a possible leadership challenge.
A group of lawmakers has approached No. 2 Republican Rep. Steve Scalise (LA) about running for House speaker in the next Congress should McCarthy’s bid fail, telling him to “just be ready,” sources familiar told Politico. Scalise could offer a more agreeable alternative to McCarthy, as the House minority leader has faced opposition from a handful of Republicans that has threatened to derail his speakership bid.
I could see supporting Scalise. He did take a bullet after all, from a Progressive Liberal nut job early in the Trump administration. He could have retired after that, but he did come back and he does have a lot of respect, unlike McCarthy, who will stab you in the back if he thinks it will benefit him.
However, the closed-door conversations could put Scalise in a difficult position. Publicly, the Louisiana Republican has declined to comment on the matter, instead pointing to previous statements he made endorsing McCarthy and maintaining he would not run against him.
That is a problem. How does he shaft McCarthy and not look like he is shafting McCarthy?
“Does he want to be speaker? Absolutely. But is he going to screw Kevin? Absolutely not,” one person close to Scalise told the outlet.
It sounds to me that it wold have to be a “Draft Scalisi” movement and it would have to be a literal “Popular” movement. As it is, Scalisi is not campaigning for the job and is not doing any of the organizing stuff you would expect.
Some conservatives have hinted they would back the Louisiana Republican should he run but maintained there’s a list of other possible contenders they may consider.
“Some of those candidates have expressed interest to us — or that they would be interested once it’s clear Kevin McCarthy won’t be speaker,” Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) told Politico. However, he added that it’s difficult to name names without risking the ire of McCarthy and his allies.
Several have announced that there is no way they will support McCarthy’s run for the speakers gavel.
At least five GOP lawmakers have publicly said they won’t back his speakership bid, and McCarthy can’t afford to lose more than four votes, or else he risks sinking his chances when the House meets to vote on Jan. 3. That list includes Good, Andy Biggs (AZ), Matt Gaetz (FL), Ralph Norman (SC), and Matt Rosendale (MT).
Andy Biggs has said he would run for Speaker of the House, but he probably doesn’t have that much of a chance.
If no candidate wins a majority of the votes cast during the roll call vote at the beginning of the Congress, the House will repeat the roll call until a speaker is elected. Congress has not had to repeat a roll call vote to elect a House speaker since 1923. McCarthy has vowed not to back down, noting he would go through several rounds of ballots until he wins the speaker position.
If McCarthy fails to win a majority after two or three votes, it’s possible that some of his supporters will start pealing away. Scalise could then be nominated at that point, even if he isn’t actively running. Of course, we can also go the “Fun” route and bring in someone from outside the House. Speaker of the House Donald J. Trump anyone?
Thatisall
(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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