#speakership

For weeks after the Senate passed a sprawling aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, Speaker Mike Johnson agonised over whether and how the House would take up funding legislation that would almost certainly infuriate the right wing of his party and could cost him his job.He huddled with top national security officials, including William Burns, the CIA director, in the Oval Office to discuss…

If the GOP ends up with a tiny majority in the House, that may increase rather than decrease Kevin McCarthy’s problems.

Apparently Donald Trump is demanding McCarthy’s endorsement for his 2024 run as a precondition for Trumpist support for McCarthy to become Speaker. Trump lickspittle Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21), number three in the GOP House leadership, has already jumped on the Trump 2024 bandwagon.

Man, KEVIN McCARTHY is having a hell of a week. This morning, Trump adviser JASON MILLER went on STEVE BANNON’s podcast and insisted that if the California Republican wants to be House speaker, “he must be much more declarative that he supports President [DONALD] TRUMP in 2024.”

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We have to say we saw this coming — particularly after Rep. ELISE STEFANIK (R-N.Y.) endorsed Trump’s expected 2024 bid last night in a statement to Breitbart. Now we’re looking at a situation where Trump is going to want all other Republicans running for leadership posts to declare their loyalty as well.

The stakes are especially high for McCarthy. He’ll need the support of nearly every Republican to win the floor vote that decides the gavel, while others running for leadership posts only need to win a majority of the GOP conference.

If he’s forced to endorse Trump to shore up his right flank, will he lose votes from more moderate Republicans who want the ex-president in the rearview mirror? And if he does, can he get the 218 votes to be speaker?

Let’s say that the GOP ends up with a total of 220 seats. To become Speaker, McCarthy would need 218 of those seats. So if the QAnon caucus refuses to back him due to his failure to endorse Trump, that could leave the House leadership in limbo. Democrats with 215 seats would not have the votes for their own choice of Speaker.