Some inside the Republican Party are furious at the plan that was inching forward this week (so far) to formally expand the powers held by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) in a role described in this scenario as interim Speaker of the House.
(UPDATE: Reports suggested Thursday the McHenry plan wasn’t moving forward after all, but who knows? The original article continues below.)
The House must have someone in the Speaker’s role to move forward with major business, and it’s so far been weeks without Republicans able to assemble the support necessary for putting a contender over the top on their own. And that’s what many Republicans have been trying to do — sticking with increasingly extreme factions of their own party rather than striking a bipartisan arrangement with Democrats much earlier. Considering the tumult, it likely won’t be clear unless the idea is approved whether elevating McHenry will really move forward, though it would likely require Democrats to get it done considering the renewed Republican opposition.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) said the GOP would no longer be deserving of the House majority (were they ever?) in such a scenario. “And what they’re doing right now is walking the Republicans off the plank,” he said, as relayed by The Washington Post. “We don’t deserve the majority. We go along with the plan to give the Democrats control over the House of Representatives. It is a giant betrayal.” “If Republicans hand our majority away, I don’t see us getting it back anytime soon,” Banks added on X (Twitter).
Banks is an avid supporter of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the most recent pick from (most) Republicans for the Speaker’s role, who’s repeatedly fallen short. Jordan is also known for helping lead major partisan charges within the GOP, whether in the past with the Benghazi investigation or recent conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who’s so often mad, was also, well, mad. “I will vote NO on a resolution to empower a short-term Speaker,” she said online. “I’m not sharing our power with Democrats, after our voters gave us the majority. Republicans working with Democrats is how we got here.”
