McCarthy Tells Allies Not to Back Him for Speaker; Conference Remains Divided amid Israel Crisis

While House Republicans were debating who should be the next speaker nominee behind closed doors Tuesday evening, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said GOP allies should refrain from backing him for the nomination.

“There are two people running in there. I’m not one of them,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill, referring to Representatives Steve Scalise (R., La.) and Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) as the two nominees.

Uncertainty in the House comes amid Israel’s ongoing conflict with Hamas after the latter launched an invasion on the Jewish state Saturday morning. McCarthy hopes House Republicans can quickly elect a new speaker to advance aid to Israel.

Additionally, the California Republican recommended the GOP conference should not begin voting until a nominee has enough votes needed to secure the speaker’s gavel in order to avoid the lengthy election that happened in January. “The one thing I see is, we went 15 rounds on the floor. I think of where the world is today, they shouldn’t come out of there until they decide that they have enough votes for whoever they bring to the floor can become speaker,” he said.

McCarthy noted he has not endorsed anyone for the speakership, adding he will “let the conference decide.”

With less than 24 hours to go before the speaker election, the GOP conference still remains divided over which candidate should be nominated to run the House.

Representative Ken Buck (R., Colo.) said he would not vow to support the chosen Republican candidate, regardless of whether it ends up being Scalise or Jordan in the position. “I’m not going to be bound by 51 percent of the caucus,” Buck said. “There are some serious moral issues that we’ve got to come to grips with before we put a speaker up, or we’re going to go through this process again.”

Representative Thomas Massie (R., Ky.) told reporters after the candidate forum there is a low chance of a new speaker getting elected Wednesday: “I’d put it at two percent.”

He also said the House, in addition to choosing a candidate, must consider how a speaker will galvanize support to allow Congress to fund the federal government by November 17. “I think we’re voting for two things at once here,” Massie said. “We’re voting for a speaker and for a plan to get through the next several days on the appropriations, and it’s not fair for us to vote for a speaker and then vote against his plan.”

Representative Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.), the one who successfully led the motion to oust McCarthy last week, said he remains undecided as of Tuesday: “I’m praying about it tonight.”

Other Republicans remain more optimistic, however.

Representative Dan Bishop (R., N.C.) told reporters he already endorsed Jordan for speaker, and Representative Dusty Johnson (R., S.D.) told National Review “both did a magnificent job of laying out a vision for the future” in the caucus meeting.

“I thought it was an excellent meeting,” Representative Harriet Hageman (R., Wyo.) told National Review. “Questions were fantastic. I think they were the very questions that were on most people’s minds. We have two great candidates, and I’m very optimistic and hopeful that we’re going to get this resolved and move on with our agenda.”

House Republicans will hold an internal election behind closed doors Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. to pick their nominee before the whole chamber reconvenes to vote for a new speaker. It’s unclear when the official speaker election will take place.