Lawmaker secures closed-door meeting to plot House GOP future

Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) has enough support from his colleagues for a closed-door meeting of the House GOP caucus to discuss the path forward in the wake of Speaker John Boehner’s impending resignation.

“It’s clear our members believe that we need a plan, not a person, to heal the fractures within our majority,” Roskam said in a statement given to The Hill on Saturday evening.

“I’m glad we’ll now have a chance for an open dialogue that will help us start to unify behind the conservative solutions the American people deserve.”

The former deputy majority whip sent a letter to the conference early Saturday morning calling Boehner’s decision “one of the most remarkable political developments in American history,” but warning against moving too quickly in its aftermath.

{mosads}“Before we rush headlong into leadership elections, we need to take time to reflect on what has happened and have a serious discussion about why we’re here serving, what we expect of our leaders, and how we plan to accomplish our goals,” he wrote.

He asked his colleagues to sign onto a letter to House Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) that formally requested an extended conference meeting in light of Boehner’s resignation.

“If we launch headfirst into leadership elections like this is a typical succession without ever taking the time to diagnose our current ailments,” he wrote in the letter to McMorris Rodgers, “we won’t heal the fractures in a Conference that has thus far proved unleadable.”

Late Saturday evening, Roskam secured enough support for the meeting.

Nate Hodson, a spokesman for McMorris Rodgers, told The Hill that the chairwoman was already looking to schedule a meeting for the conference.

“Before we read about anything in the news this morning, the Chair was working to schedule a meeting for Members to unify the Conference on next steps as she fundamentally believes internal communication is the building block of trust,” he said.

“We are happy to see a number of Members support a similar effort and look forward to receiving Mr. Roskam’s letter.”

McMorris Rodgers, as conference chair, manages meetings for the House GOP caucus.

The call for slowing down the process of tapping new leadership comes with lawmakers already jockeying to replace Boehner and potentially other positions that could open as the dominos fall. 

Roskam, a former member of House leadership, is weighing a leadership bid of his own. One of his aides told The Hill he’s not currently planning a run, but if he decides to, it would likely be for majority leader.

Early this month, he successfully forced House leadership to change its agenda and hold a vote to charge President Obama with skirting congressional review of the Iran deal. That return to the spotlight for the former chief deputy whip, who helped to turn the conservative House Freedom Caucus’ objections into House action, sparked questions about whether he’s interested in another leadership bid. 

This story was last updated at 7:40 p.m.

Scott Wong contributed.