On Politics

Thu Oct 5 2023

Hi OnPolitics readers! After the historic House vote to remove Kevin McCarthy from his role as speaker of the House, you may be wondering — what's next?

USA TODAY reporter Ken Tran explains what to expect:

📅 House Republicans will hold a closed-door candidate forum Tuesday to discuss potential nominees. House members will return Wednesday for the expected speaker election.

The task ahead: "McCarthy's ouster, which has left the House paralyzed without a successor, leaves the next speaker with an enormous task: uniting the deeply fractured House GOP conference," Tran writes.

👞 Who could step in? Among the names in the ring, Tran and Sudiksha Kochi write , are Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.; Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of the Judiciary Committee; Oklahoma Republican Rep. Kevin Hern, chair of the largest GOP caucus; and even Donald Trump (though that last name is unlikely, per Trump himself). Here's who they are.

"In the meantime, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., a key McCarthy ally, was chosen as acting speaker from a succession list McCarthy provided to the House clerk in January," Tran and Kochi write.

📰 Keep reading: House Republicans scramble to find new speaker, but who can get 218?

Catch up: 'Institution fell today.' McCarthy ousted as speaker by right-wing rebellion: 5 takeaways

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