House Republicans Hoping Third Time’s The Charm In House Speaker Search

House Republicans are cautiously optimistic they can set aside the rancor and bitterness that’s marked their search for a new House speaker so far as they embark on a third try to name someone who can get 217 votes.

They’ll find out whether that optimism is warranted Tuesday morning when they start to meet behind closed doors to winnow the field from eight candidates to one that will be formally nominated on the House floor.

It’s been a raucous three weeks for the House GOP that saw former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) toppled and the candidacies of Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) implode because of infighting.

“We’re bigger than this. We’re bigger than these grievances that have been going on for a long time,” said Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) as he headed into the House GOP candidate forum Monday night.

“I want to elect a speaker of the House. I think I speak for everybody in America: It’s time to move on,” he said. “People are ready to move on. Everybody wants to get this going, so I’m confident we’re going to get there.”

Flood was the representative behind a unity pledge meant to avoid a repeat of when some of Jordan’s supporters withheld their support for Scalise, making it clear that Scalise would not win a floor vote, and when a group of moderates and members of the Appropriations Committee voted against Jordan.

The pledge is to vote for the member who wins the intraparty conference vote on the House floor as well. Flood said all of the candidates had signed it by the time the forum had started, though it was unclear how many rank-and-file members had agreed to abide by it.

Rep. Jennifer Kiggans (R-Va.), a freshman who voted against Jordan on the House floor last week, said Monday night she’ll be looking at who will avoid deep defense cuts that would hurt her district economically.

“I can’t have that for my district, for my military and for my country. So that’s important to me,” she said.

Looming over the contest is the shadow of Donald Trump, the party’s presidential front-runner, who is campaigning while out on bail from criminal and civil charges at the state and federal level.

Trump endorsed Jordan but did not make a public push when Jordan faltered and said Monday he was planning on staying out of the contest. But some of Trump’s allies have said they would try to derail the candidacy of Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the likely front-runner.

Emmer currently holds the No. 3 post in party leadership in the House, the party whip. He has also served as chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the campaign arm of House Republicans.

But Emmer was also one of two candidates in the field who voted to certify the 2020 presidential election. The other was Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.).

“I think obviously anybody and everybody has the right to espouse their opinions, and we should always be respectful of that,” Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) said.

“But ultimately, when push comes to shove, this is an internal decision by the Republicans in the House,” he said.

In addition to Emmer and Donalds, other candidates include Reps. Kevin Hern (Okla.), Austin Scott (Ga.), Pete Sessions (Texas), Jack Bergman (Mich.), Mike Johnson (La.) and Gary Palmer (Ala.).

The choice of speaker will have major implications down the road. A temporary government funding law expires in mid-November, meaning another one will need to be negotiated with Democrats and the White House. President Joe Biden has also proposed a $106 billion supplemental spending bill that would tie together aid for Israel, Ukraine and U.S. partner countries in the Indo-Pacific region like Taiwan.

But about half of House Republicans have opposed additional aid to Ukraine, even as they have favored aid to Israel. Advocates for Ukraine were on Capitol Hill Monday as part of a multiday lobbying effort to free up the aid. A handful who learned of the forum as they visited lawmakers’ offices greeted Republican House members as they arrived, politely saying, “Please remember Ukraine” as the Republicans went into the meeting.

One of those advocates, Mira Rubin, president of the House of Ukraine cultural museum in San Diego, said the choice of the next Republican speaker was an existential one for Ukrainians.

“If the next speaker is pro-Russian, we’re doomed,” she said. “This is probably the most important thing that’s happening for us on the Hill in the next couple of days, is knowing who that speaker’s going to be. They’ve got to be strong for Ukraine, they’ve got to be strong for Israel.”