Do you remember when a British tabloid livestreamed a head of lettuce to see if it would last longer than then-Prime Minister Liz Truss’s tenure? The lettuce did, in fact, outlive her 44-day stint. Well, we have reached day 20 without a House Speaker, so maybe this should be our measure.
Where Republicans stand: Republicans are back to the drawing board after House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) dropped out as the nominee Friday. It was clear he would *not* earn the support of a number of House moderates.
What now?: Nine Republicans are in the race for the Speakership, but it’s unclear if any of them can rally enough support to reach the 217-vote threshold. House Republicans are holding a candidate forum at 6:30 p.m. for the candidates to make their pitches. Then House Republicans will have an internal election with a secret ballot to gauge support for each Speaker candidate.
The format of tonight’s forum: “2 minute intro speeches per candidate, an hour and a half of q & a and 1 minute closing speeches,” according to Axios’s Juliegrace Brufke. Now this is a debate that would get great ratings!
Who is most likely to emerge as a front-runner: House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), who is the third-highest ranking Republican in the chamber. What to know about Emmer
‘Tom Emmer scrambles to fix his Trump problem’: “The majority whip is battling a whisper campaign questioning his past support for the ex-president.” (Politico)
Oh man: NBC News’s Jonathan Allen noted that “four percent of the House Republican Conference woke up this morning, looked in the mirror and saw the next speaker of the House staring back.”
Here’s a list of how each of the nine Speaker candidates voted in overturning the 2020 election results. Tidbit: Only two of these nine candidates did not vote to overturn either Arizona or Pennsylvania’s election results.
This is remarkably bad timing: Government funding expires Nov. 17. President Biden also requested roughly $100 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine, Israel, allies in the Indo-Pacific and for border security.
And Senate Republicans are feeling embarrassed: They worry it could tarnish their image. More on the Senate GOP frustration over their House colleagues, via The Hill’s Alexander Bolton
Republicans are worried about another massive spending bill: Republicans had hoped to pass each of the dozen government spending bills individually instead of passing one ~ginormous~ package, explains The Hill’s Aris Folley. Well, this Speaker fight is keeping lawmakers from passing those à la carte bills and raises the odds of another big omnibus package. (The Hill)
The Hill’s Mychael Schnell has a helpful read on what to expect on Capitol Hill this week.
Live blog of the Speaker saga
