The Hamas attack in Israel had repercussions all the way to the American Congress, giving a boost on Monday to negotiations between Republicans over the new president of the House of Representatives.
Throwing a stone into the pond, the dismissed “speaker” Kevin McCarthy made it clear that he was not ruling out a possible return to the perch, evoking his diplomatic experience with Israel and the need for his position to be filled as quickly as possible to allow the Congress to act.
Because the vacancy in the House, decreed Tuesday by Trumpists in a historic vote, has suspended the vast majority of the parliamentary work of this institution – even though many elected officials are calling for urgent aid to be released to Israel . Without a president in the House of Representatives, Congress cannot vote on a new budget for the federal state, nor decide on a possible additional envelope for Ukraine.
The candidates are jostling
The Republicans have had a majority in the House since January, which makes them de facto responsible for electing the president of this institution. But extremely strong tensions between moderate and Trumpist elected officials completely disrupted this process, culminating in the dismissal of Kevin McCarthy on October 3.
The surprise offensive by Palestinian Hamas, however, increased the pressure to restore order in this parliamentary group, the United States being a historic partner of Israel.
Two elected Republicans are already officially in the running for the presidency of the House: on the one hand, group leader Steve Scalise, a member of the hard right, who suffers from blood cancer.
On the other, the pugnacious Jim Jordan, head of the judicial commission and close to Donald Trump. The former president, candidate for the 2024 election, has already lined up behind Jim Jordan, ensuring that his lieutenant had his “total support”.
The return of McCarthy?
But to everyone’s surprise, dismissed “speaker” Kevin McCarthy announced on Monday that he too could be a candidate for his former position – something he had ruled out last week. Pressed repeatedly on his possible return to the perch, the elected official from California limited himself to declaring to the press: “It is up to the parliamentary group to choose.”
Before launching into a tirade listing his “numerous” trips to Gaza, his speech given in May before the Knesset, and his telephone exchanges “as recently as last week” with President Isaac Herzog. “We can’t do anything without a + speaker +,” he then decided. Several followers of Kevin McCarthy have already invited the elected official to run again.
“This period of chaos and uncertainty has proven that it was a mistake to dismiss him,” argued Florida elected official Carlos Gimenez on X (ex-Twitter).
A spectacular turnaround
The re-election of Kevin McCarthy would be a dramatic turnaround. But it would require that the handful of Trumpist troublemakers fall into line – which is far from a guarantee.
A handful of these Donald Trump loyalists have also suggested that the former president himself be the next speaker of the House of Representatives. A surprising proposition to say the least, but not impossible: the “speaker” does not technically need to be elected to Congress to access the perch.
The scenario, however, seems highly improbable, especially since current Republican rules prohibit those indicted from having a position in the leadership of the parliamentary group. The Republican general staff wants the party to find a solution by Wednesday evening.