Rep. Scalise is out….
The media is featuring Rep. Jim Jordan right now….
Lets’s be frank….
McCarthy and the above US House Republicans CANNOT have the US House operate with a Democratic Majority US Senate and President….
Axios is running a piece that looks at some US House members working to get a vote for a new House Speaker that CAN work with their party and across the aisle with Democrats….
Lawmakers in both parties are expressing growing openness, both in public and in private, to a bipartisan deal to elect a House speaker as Republicans are continually thwarted in their efforts to do it alone.
Why it matters: With House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) withdrawing despite winning his party’s nomination, some Republicans are concerned nobody can win the job with just GOP votes.
What they’re saying: “There’s a sentiment building around [a bipartisan deal] among Democrats and Republicans,” Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), a member of Democratic leadership who represents a swing district, told Axios.
- “We’re open to anything that’s reasonable,” said Rep. Maria Salazar (R-Fla.), a member of the moderate Republican Governance Group. “Bipartisanship is not a sin.”
- Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a perennial bipartisan dealmaker, said “at this point, there are enough Republican and Democrats saying we’ve got to get this fixed.”
- Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) said, as the situation devolves, he sees Republicans “absolutely” getting more open to a deal: “Yes, I mean you’re seeing that.”
State of play: With Scalise out of the running, all eyes now turn to Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a co-founder of the right-wing Freedom Caucus.
- But some of Jordan’s GOP colleagues are already predicting he’ll suffer the same fate as Scalise. “I think he’s gonna have a math problem as well,” said Mike Garcia (R-Calif.).
- Rep. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) said “it’s going to be hard” for Jordan to win….
…
Reality check: Cross-party tensions are still raw after Democrats voted uniformly to remove McCarthy.
- “There was no sense of [bipartisanship] when it was the motion to vacate a week and a half ago,” said Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah), “so I don’t think anything is credible that could be realistic at the moment.”
- Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) expressed skepticism as well: “Has a Democrat come out and said they would support a Republican nominee?”
The bottom line: Just before Scalise dropped out, Bacon said of Republicans, “At some point we’re going to be exasperated [and say], ‘Okay, this is not working.'”…..
Apparently there ARE ongoing talks going on in the background…..
Picking a compromise person like Tom Cole of Oklahoma, who is experienced and considered a “grown-up” should be pretty easy. (would also be the first Native American Speaker)
However, watch them go ahead and nominate Byron Donalds of Florida so they can “own the libs” by picking a black guy.
EASY?????
Huh?
Ain’t NOTHING Easy about Republicans in the Trump Era….
Tom Cole is rated the 91st-most bipartisan member of Congress.
In theory, Henry Cuellar (D) of Texas, a widely respected non-Anglo, unafraid to vote against his caucus, and the 6th-most bipartisan member of the House, would make a more plausible candidate, but then this is no normal Congress and no normal Republican Conference.
By the way, I looked up in Wikipedia Charles Curtis (R-Neb.), Herbert Hoover’s VP and just as proud of his Indian ancestry and culture as of any other, to see if he’d ever been Speaker of the House. No, but he had served as Senate Majority Leader (Chuck Schumer’s present job). He also participated in a triathlon.
triathlon, eh?