The Hill’s Morning Report – Paralysis in the House

The House of Representatives is looking for a Speaker.  

After Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) dramatic Tuesday ouster, and Rep. Patrick McHenry’s (R-N.C.) installation as acting Speaker, Republican lawmakers on Wednesday appeared no closer to coalescing around a successor.  

The House isn’t scheduled to meet again until Tuesday, when official deliberations for the next candidate will begin, with an internal election set for Wednesday. But some House Republicans — including Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) — have already expressed their intention to run for the post. Other GOP members have floated different candidates, including former President Trump. (There is no requirement that the Speaker of the House be a member of the chamber, though Trump’s appointment is unlikely.) 

“There are scenarios where this could be going on for weeks,” Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) said Wednesday. 

A HOUSE DIVIDED: On one side, hard-line conservatives — including but not limited to the eight members who voted to oust McCarthy — want a leader who will take an aggressive stance on issues like spending and the border. Opposite them stand members who are infuriated by McCarthy’s ouster by a handful of their colleagues and who want to make it harder to remove any future Speakers (The Hill).  

McCarthy himself is no bystander to the turmoil that so often defined his tenure in the House; he was an early architect of the new Republican Party that came into the fore with the Tea Party movement of the 2010s. And now, with no Speaker, a position that’s second in line to the presidency, Congress cannot fully function during a time of simmering uncertainty at home and abroad (The Associated Press).  

“I think the mood is not great,” Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) told The Washington Post, noting that he doesn’t believe any candidate can currently get the 217 votes needed to secure the Speakership. He has one question for whoever wants the job: “How are you going to ensure that what happened never happens again?” 

ALL THAT TO SAY: The House is facing an unprecedented moment, and the next government funding deadline is just 43 days away. In The Memo, The Hill’s Niall Stanage breaks down five key takeaways from the ouster. 

MCCARTHY’S ALLIES are fuming at Democrats for failing to back him amid his historic ejection, The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch reports, leaving Democrats arguing they have no one to blame but themselves. McHenry exacted some swift revenge — booting both Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) from their hideaway offices in the Capitol. The move came after McCarthy called out Pelosi, who is in California for the funeral of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), claiming she failed to keep a promise made during his 15-vote battle for the Speakership to back him if his members ever sought to vote him out. 

GOING AFTER GAETZ: Republicans are also venting their anger with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), the hard-right firebrand who led the charge for McCarthy’s ouster, The Hill’s Mychael Schnell reports. At least two GOP lawmakers have said Gaetz should be booted from the House Republican conference, an unlikely outcome that, nonetheless, underscores the raw frustration — and anger — with Gaetz among members of his party. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.) said Gaetz’s move to eject McCarthy from the Speakership amounted to “one of the greatest acts of heresy.” 

“He’s literally taken one of our oldest institutions and put it into a downward spiral all over selfish needs, all over Twitter feeds and raising money,” D’Esposito said during an interview on CNN. 

Politico: Gaetz just positioned himself for Florida governor. Many view his moves as a bid for attention ahead of 2026. 

ALSO WATCHING: The future of Ukraine aid in Congress, which is facing uncertainty after McCarthy’s ouster. And Sen. Rick Scott’s (Fla.) vow, alongside 20 of his Republican colleagues, to delay any legislation moving on the Senate floor that does not relate directly to funding the government as they face a pileup of spending bills and a possible government shutdown.

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Morning Report’s Alexis Simendinger is on leave. 

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ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL 

Republicans are voicing concerns that the infighting surrounding former McCarthy’s ouster could lead to defeats in competitive House districts next year, The Hill’s Julia Manchester reports. Many in the GOP say the intraparty chaos paints a picture of a divided party obsessed with the inside workings of Washington and out of touch with voters outside of the beltway. For swing district Republicans in states like New York and California, that image could be a liability as the GOP leans on them to hold onto its razor-thin majority; there are 18 vulnerable Republicans running in districts that Biden won in 2020, and Democrats only need to flip a net five seats to win control of the lower chamber. 

New York Rep. Mike Lawler (R), who represents the state’s 17th Congressional District, is one of the moderate Republicans running in a Biden district. On Wednesday, Lawler hit Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, accusing the Democrat of aligning himself with Gaetz “to upend the institution and seek political gain in the process.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) fired back at Lawler on the platform, noting his vulnerability going into 2024.  

“Nice story,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “You could also do the right thing, Lawler. Your district voted for Biden by 10 pts. You could end this by representing and voting for Jeffries. A lot easier for you to vote your district than expecting me to vote for a man who wants to take my right to choose away.” 

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The White House is increasingly facing criticism over its attempts to address the flow of migrants across the southern border from a somewhat unexpected source: Democratic allies. As The Hill’s Alex Gangitano and Brett Samuels write, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D), a member of the Biden campaign’s national advisory board, wrote a letter to the White House this week expressing concerns about how migrants arriving in his state from Texas are straining resources. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) spoke with White House officials on Sunday about the same topic.  

While Republican lawmakers have relentlessly criticized the White House for the surge of migrants at the border, the fact that more and more Democrats are pressing the issue underscores how big of a problem it may be for the White House. 

INTERNATIONAL 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top Biden administration officials will travel to Mexico City today, hoping to bolster a strategy to confront staggering fentanyl overdoses in the United States and soaring migration in the Western Hemisphere. 

While the United States and Mexico have emphasized the importance of their economic ties, the meetings come as rhetoric from both nations has grown increasingly contentious over how to confront foreign policy challenges including drug trafficking and illegal immigration. While the meeting is not expected to yield groundbreaking policy announcements, it presents an opportunity to ease some of the tensions between the two allies (The New York Times). 

Blinken is scheduled to discuss migration today with Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Bárcena, as well as the foreign ministers of Colombia and Panama (The Associated Press). 

Meanwhile, after a year and a half of war, Ukraine’s leaders have a new reason to worry: Mounting political chaos in Washington is threatening to derail their supply of money and weapons. In Kyiv, officials are at a loss as to what might happen next. Their staunchest military ally suddenly looks unreliable, despite assurances from Biden and others the U.S. will remain steadfast until Ukraine’s invaders are defeated (Politico EU). 

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OPINION 

■ Exit stage (far) right: McCarthy’s nightmare is now America’s ordeal, by Max Burns, opinion contributor, The Hill.  

■ Give Gaetz the silent treatment, by Karl Rove, columnist, The Wall Street Journal. 

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