The Republican search for a new leader in the House of Representatives is back to square one

Republican lawmakers in the US House of Representatives, whose infighting has paralyzed the chamber for three weeks, will resume efforts on Monday to try to choose a new leader and meet the funding needs of Israel, Ukraine and the federal government.

Disputes between radicals and moderates led to the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Oct. 3 and derailed the candidacies of two potential successors: Majority Leader Steve Scalise and prominent conservative Jim Jordan.

The leadership vacuum has hampered the work of Congress, which faces a Nov. 17 deadline to avert a government shutdown, extended funding to federal agencies and a request from President Joe Biden for military aid to Israel and Ukraine.

“This is probably one of the most embarrassing things I’ve ever seen,” Republican House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “We are essentially closed as a government.”

The task of choosing a new Republican candidate for Speaker of the House will begin again this Monday at 7:30 pm Brasilia time, when nine declared candidates will present themselves in a closed-door candidates forum.

McCarthy endorsed party leadership member Tom Emmer, pointing to his experience working to drum up votes on key legislation since January, when Republicans won the House majority.

“This is not the time to learn on the job,” McCarthy said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” though he added, “It’s going to be an uphill battle.”

With a narrow 221-212-seat majority in the House, it’s unclear whether any Republicans will be able to get the 217 votes needed to claim the seat.

Any candidate nominated by the party conference can afford to lose no more than four Republican votes in the House, and the party is divided over spending cuts, funding for Ukraine and other contentious issues.

Seven of the nine new House speaker candidates — Jack Bergman, Byron Donalds, Kevin Hern, Mike Johnson, Dan Meuser, Gary Palmer and Pete Sessions — voted to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 defeat to President Joe Biden on the day where supporters of the former president attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The two remaining candidates, Emmer and Austin Scott, did not vote to block the certification of the election results.

Source: Terra

Rose

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