House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Rep. Jim Jordan both jumped into the race Wednesday to become the next House speaker, setting up a fight to replace Kevin McCarthy after his historic ouster.
House Republicans are even more bitterly divided in the aftermath of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster and his decision not to run again. It remains to be seen whether the conference can coalesce around a viable successor to the California Republican.
The stakes are extremely high as Congress faces down a looming shutdown deadline in mid-November. The House is essentially paralyzed while it lacks a speaker.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern, who chairs a conservative group known as the Republican Study Committee said Wednesday he is still looking at running for speaker and has not made a decision yet.
Potential contenders who are said to be interested for whip: Rep. Drew Ferguson of Georgia, who lost and ran last time, or Rep.
House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik is also calling colleagues and allies about potentially moving up the chain in leadership, a source familiar said.
Jordan made a pitch for unity in a letter to House GOP colleagues obtained by CNN.
As speaker, McCarthy presided over a narrow majority and had to confront criticism from hardline conservatives, who threw up roadblocks to the leadership agenda and protested legislation that passed with Democratic support.
His ouster, led by GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, came soon after he averted a government shutdown by passing a bipartisan stopgap funding bill.
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