Tag: daniel webster
Who Is Still Running For Speaker Of The House?

Who Is Still Running For Speaker Of The House?

The House of Representatives is in a state of total chaos, after the sudden withdrawal of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the race to become Speaker of the House. Who will get the job now? And who would even want it?

McCarthy, the onetime heir apparent, proceeded to ruin his chances after he publicly boasted as an accomplishment that the Benghazi investigation committee was put together in order to bring down Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers.

McCarthy was also stymied by the continued renegade behavior of the House Freedom Caucus, a group of right-wing GOP members. It’s conceivable this group might have committed the nearly unprecedented act of refusing to vote for the Republican nominee on the House floor on account of the leadership’s refusal to trigger a government shutdown —a standoff that has brought the House GOP to the point of crisis.

So what other names are emerging from the Republican peanut gallery as contenders? (Though come to think of it, we thought that McCarthy was the peanut gallery.)

Here are just a few possibilities.

All eyes are now on Paul Ryan of Wisconsin — the powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, architect of Republican proposals to privatize Medicare, and of course the losing GOP nominee for vice president in 2012. Ryan has been a hero of the right, but would risk a lot by taking on the duties of actual governance.

Soon after McCarthy’s big stunner, Ryan put out a statement reiterating (after his earlier decision following Boehner’s initial retirement) that he would still not be running for speaker. However, The Washington Post reports that Boehner is personally asking Ryan to run for the speakership. And now even Kevin McCarthy himself is telling National Review, “I personally want Paul Ryan” — though given McCarthy’s unpopularity with the Freedom Caucus, maybe an endorsement is the surest thing he could do to ruin Ryan’s chances.

Still running is Jason Chaffetz of Utah, the House Oversight Committee chairman who launched his campaign this past weekend. You might remember Chaffetz as the man who unveiled a bizarrely dishonest graph about Planned Parenthood at last week’s hearing, and then continued to defend it even as the inaccuracies were pointed out to him on national television.

Another problem: Chaffetz has been a longtime participant in the Benghazi investigations, the legitimacy of which McCarthy has tainted.

Daniel Webster of Florida is also running, after becoming the candidate of the same far-right House Freedom Caucus that helped to bring down Boehner and McCarthy. Back in January, a group of Republicans who were seeking to block Boehner on the House floor in the election for speaker, selected Webster as their main candidate — an effort that just barely failed at the time.

Another possible compromise candidate might be Peter Roskam of Illinois. In a fascinating turn, an article ran last night in National Review that floated him as the “the next-next speaker” after McCarthy — and with McCarthy out of the picture, perhaps this other man could become a major player.

And then there’s some comic relief, courtesy of the GOP’s southern base. According to Fox News, Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia is now running. He’s man who infamously called Barack and Michelle Obama “uppity” during the 2008 election — and then insisted that he’d never even heard of that word’s history as an insult against African-Americans.

Westmoreland very memorably appeared in a 2006 episode of The Colbert Report, during which he talked about how he didn’t actually have to pass legislation. And in one of the truly classic moments from the early years of the show, Colbert asked the congressman — who favored the public posting of the Ten Commandments — to actually list those same commandments from memory. (Spoiler warning: He couldn’t.)

Photo: Elephants performing at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri, November 8, 2008. (via Wikimedia Commons)

House Conservative Group Backs Representative Webster As Next Speaker

House Conservative Group Backs Representative Webster As Next Speaker

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — A small but outspoken group of Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday threw their support behind Representative Daniel Webster as their choice to become speaker, replacing the retiring John Boehner.

Representatives John Fleming and Jim Jordan told reporters that the House “Freedom Caucus” members cast their votes for Webster, a Florida Republican. The move could complicate efforts by front-runner House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy to win the speakership.

But Fleming added that Wednesday’s decision by the group is an endorsement that does not necessarily bind them to stick with Webster when the full House votes on Oct. 29.

On Thursday, all 247 House Republicans are scheduled to meet behind closed doors and vote on who they want to nominate for speaker.

Ultimately, it is up to the full House — Republicans who control the chamber and minority Democrats — to vote for Boehner’s replacement at the end of this month.

Given that all Democrats are expected to vote for their party leader — former Speaker Nancy Pelosi — Republicans will mostly have to stick together to anoint the next speaker. If too many were to splinter and back candidates other than the nominee, there could be a deadlock, requiring additional ballots and a potentially damaging fight for Republicans.

McCarthy is seen as the front-runner in the race.

The Freedom Caucus is comprised of conservatives sympathetic to the small-government Tea Party movement. They effectively pressured Boehner to announce his retirement recently by fighting a series of internal party battles with him during his speakership. Boehner is set to leave Congress on Oct. 30.

There are an estimated 40 members of the Freedom Caucus.

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Photo: Congressman Daniel Webster (R-FL), via Facebook.

House To Vote On New Speaker On October 29: Boehner

House To Vote On New Speaker On October 29: Boehner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Members of the U.S. House of Representatives will vote to elect the chamber’s next speaker on Oct. 29, House Speaker John Boehner, who is retiring, announced on Monday.

On Thursday, House Republicans will meet to choose their party’s nominee for the post, but the speaker is elected by the entire House.

In a statement, Boehner also said he was delaying elections for the rest of the Republican Party leadership team. Those had been scheduled to take place on Thursday alongside the party’s voting for speaker.

The date for the other leadership elections will be set by the new speaker, Boehner said. The party is expected to choose a new House majority leader, who makes up the floor schedule, as well as a new majority whip, who tries to ensure party members vote according to party policy.

Boehner on Sept. 25 said he would retire effective Oct. 30 after years of squabbles with conservative hardliners. That step prevented a U.S. government shutdown by allowing him to work with Democrats to keep agencies funded through Dec. 11 and put off a showdown over taxpayer support for women’s healthcare group Planned Parenthood.

His plan to retire also set off an internal party power struggle. On Sunday, Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight committee, joined the contest for speaker, challenging Boehner’s closest lieutenant and presumed successor Kevin McCarthy, the current majority leader.

The other contender for the House speaker’s post, Representative Daniel Webster, is a former speaker of Florida’s state legislature.

The declared candidates to be the next majority leader are House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price and the current whip, Representative Steve Scalise. The candidates for whip are House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions; chief deputy whip, Representative Patrick McHenry; and conservative Representative Dennis Ross.

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Susan Heavey and Mohammad Zargham)

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) participates in a news conference following a closed Republican House caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, September 29, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

House Republicans To Vote Oct. 8 For New Leaders

House Republicans To Vote Oct. 8 For New Leaders

By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives will hold leadership elections on Oct. 8, House Speaker John Boehner said on Wednesday, moving speedily to get a new team in place to deal with a series of fiscal challenges ahead.

“After consulting with our conference, a large majority of our members have made clear they want these elections held next week. With their considerations in mind, the House leadership elections will take place on Thursday, Oct. 8,” Boehner said in an emailed statement.

Boehner announced last Friday that he will step down as Speaker and leave Congress effective Oct. 30, after struggling with repeated rebellions by conservatives during a tumultuous five-year reign as the chamber’s top Republican.

On Oct. 8, the Republicans will choose their candidate for Boehner’s replacement as well as their choices for other party positions. Sometime later in October, the full House is expected to vote on the new speaker.

Whoever becomes the top House leader after Boehner leaves will be next in line in the succession to the U.S. presidency after the vice president.

House Republicans are expected to choose Representative Kevin McCarthy, 50, the current House majority leader, as their speaker candidate. However, currently there are no rules binding Republicans to vote for the party’s preferred candidate when the speaker election takes place in the whole House.

McCarthy’s only declared competition within the Republican conference so far is Representative Daniel Webster. The 66-year-old former speaker of the Florida statehouse participated in a conservative rebellion against Boehner earlier this year in which Webster was nominated for speaker and received 12 votes.

While the full House formally elects the speaker, only House Republicans will choose the majority leader and majority whip.

The new leadership team will direct Republican efforts in upcoming fiscal battles, from a possible long-term budget deal to raising the U.S. debt ceiling.

If McCarthy moves up to speaker, he would leave an opening for majority leader, who determines what legislation goes on the House floor day-to-day. Representative Steve Scalise, the current Republican whip, and Representative Tom Price, the House Budget Committee chairman, are campaigning for that job.

Scalise’s interest in the majority leader job has opened up a three-way contest for majority whip, between Representatives Patrick McHenry, Pete Sessions and Dennis Ross.

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Susan Heavey)

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) re-enters after excusing himself from a news conference following a closed Republican House caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, September 29, 2015. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst