After a handful of conservative hardliners ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday, Republicans must decide who to turn to next in an attempt to manage their slim and unruly majority and Lead the House of Representatives.
Some current Republican leaders may emerge in the coming days, though for now they remain loyal to McCarthy and oppose any efforts to oust him.
McCarthy’s allies and critics alike worry that another lawmaker may not be able to win enough support from the conference to take over, leaving the House effectively unable to function. McCarthy may also try to regain the speakership in an election, which may be held after a motion to withdraw as speaker is filed.
Here are the possible contenders for the top job:
Rep. Steve Scalise (Louisiana):
As majority leader, the affable congressman from Louisiana is the second-ranking Republican, making him theoretically the first choice to replace McCarthy. Scalise has a more conservative profile than McCarthy, which may help him win over members of the Freedom Caucus and other conservatives who have never been ideologically in sync with Californians. He announced in August that he had a form of blood cancer called multiple myeloma and was undergoing treatment. He returned to the Capitol last month and said treatment was going well. Health concerns aside, some Republicans may not want to replace one figure in the conference with another establishment figure.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), the far-right lawmaker leading the effort to oust McCarthy, has floated Scalise as a possible replacement. He said leaders should not be overlooked as Speaker because of health issues.
represent. Tom Emmer (Minnesota):
The former hockey player and Republican whip is now the conference’s third-ranking member, so it makes sense that, like Scalise, he would join the mix. As the two-term chairman of the Republican National House campaign arm, he has connections to the roughly two dozen Republicans he helped elect, and as whip, responsible for building bridges around the conference, he has connections to all factions. But he may also be criticized for the relatively weak showing in last year’s midterm elections — an issue that led to such a slim Republican majority in the first place.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY):
Another current leader, Stefanik, the No. 4 Republican, is also likely to be involved. Once seen as a moderate New Yorker, Stefanik, a Harvard graduate, has reinvented himself in recent years as a staunch Donald Trump loyalist, even going so far as to call Cheney out for his criticism of the former president. Rep. Liz Cheney ousted from leadership position. Stefanik will be the first female Republican to lead the House. Still, some conservatives may be skeptical of her recent ideological shift.
Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio):
Jordan may be Trump’s most important and high-profile ally in the House, a former Freedom Caucus leader who now chairs the powerful Judiciary Committee. He led the defense of Trump during the former president’s first impeachment and is now a driving force behind the impeachment of President Joe Biden. He is one of the few figures who can really please the restless far-right wing of his party. But Republicans in swing districts would almost certainly be wary of such a rightward shift.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) noted that Jordan has been a supporter of McCarthy and softened the reputation he gained as a bomb-thrower in previous years. “Today, he is a very effective chairman who understands the essence of Speaker McCarthy’s leadership, which is inclusive leadership,” Issa said.
Rep. Tom Cole (Oklahoma):
Cole may be a dark horse, the embodiment of an old-school congressman: a cigar-chomping institutionalist with close ties to the leadership and an appropriator who has navigated Congress for more than 20 years. A former political staffer, he now chairs the powerful Rules Committee. He may be a stabilizing figure, but conservatives are unlikely to see him as an agent of change.
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