GOP Runs Risk of Inadvertently Electing Democrat as Speaker This Weekend

By Richard Moorhead October 20, 2023 at 2:27pm

Could Republicans hand over control of the House to Democrats through a procedural fluke?

MSNBC’s Jake Sherman indicated in a Friday social media post that a number of GOP representatives were leaving Washington to return home for the weekend.

He noted the development could open a path for Democrats to elect House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as speaker of the House.

Several House GOP sources tell me some Republican lawmakers are going home this weekend. So the GOP has to be very careful about holding speaker votes this weekend. They could end up inadvertently electing @RepJeffries

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 20, 2023

Jeffries has received the most votes in floor votes for speaker in the wake of California Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s ouster on Oct. 3, according to The New York Times.

The New York Democrat has received unanimous support from within his own party — unlike his Republican opposition.

Jeffries conceivably could be elected speaker — in spite of the House having a slim GOP majority — if enough Republicans leave town and miss a vote for the position.

Republicans theoretically would have to vote to remove Jeffries as speaker in the aftermath of such an outcome.

Do you want Jim Jordan to be speaker?

GOP representatives have failed to elect a speaker after the candidacies of Reps. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio fizzled and crashed.

Jordan lost the position as the caucus’ speaker-designate in a closed-door vote on Friday, according to The Associated Press.

Jim Jordan gave it his all.

He was the best Speaker candidate to reform Congress’s spending addiction that’s been bankrupting our country.

But sadly today the GOP conference met privately and ended his candidacy by a vote of 112 to 86.

I would have voted 1000 rounds for Jim.

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) October 20, 2023

Jordan faced opposition from Republicans who are sympathetic to McCarthy.

INSIDE THE JORDAN MEETING — Every Republican who met with Jordan today told him they would not back his candidacy for House speaker, according to multiple sources in the room.

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) October 19, 2023

The development left Republicans rudderless.

McCarthy was vacated from the speaker’s chair as a result of a motion from Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.

According to CNN, the GOP will hold a closed-door candidate forum for speaker candidates on Monday evening, with a secret ballot election on Tuesday morning.

Five House Republicans are already seeking support within the caucus for their speaker candidacies, the outlet reported Friday.

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