Though deposed Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) has taken his name out of consideration for a return to the position, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-El Dorado Hills), who represents a portion of Turlock, is leading an effort for his return.
McClintock, an eight-term member of Congress, circulated a “Dear Colleague” letter on Thursday to members of the Republican conference, asking them to reconsider McCarthy as an option.
“Let’s start acting like a majority again,” McClintock said in his letter. “Let’s put the ouster of McCarthy to a conference vote. Specifically, I propose to condemn the House vote that removed him, and re-nominate him for that office and then keep voting until enough of our wayward colleagues return to the fold.”
Since McCarthy’s ouster — Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) called for a motion to vacate the position on Oct. 3, and was joined by seven other GOP renegades — the House is stuck in political limbo.
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) both sought to replace McCarthy, with Scalise beating the Donald Trump-endorsed Jordan for the nomination by a 113-99 count in a closed-door nomination process.
However, Scalise couldn’t unify enough Republicans, and with no chance of getting help from Democrats coalesced behind Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), he determined the Speakership was out of reach and took his name out of consideration.
McClintock said in a email to the Journal on Friday that until McCarthy becomes the nominee of the full party, and with Scalise pulling out, he will throw his support behind Jordan.
Jordan then secured the nomination for Speaker on Friday by a 124-81 margin in a secret-ballot vote. He beat out Rep. Austin Scott (R-Georgia).
“I don’t necessarily want to be Speaker of the House,” said Scott, who entered the race about 10 minutes before the vote. “I want to the House to function correctly.”
Republicans opted against bringing a vote to the floor Friday, uncertain that Jordan could get the 217 votes needed to become Speaker. Republicans took a second secret vote on whether they’d support Jordan on the floor, and the the result was 152 yes votes to 55 no votes.
The ultimate underdog candidate is Jeffries, who has 212 Democratic votes, but would need to peel away five Republicans to snatch the gavel from the majority.
McClintock stated in his letter that “conference rules require 25 percent of the conference to sign a resolution for expedited consideration.” He went on to ask for the help of his colleagues in signing on to his conference resolution.
With a potential government shutdown just 34 days away and the Middle East in crisis since the Oct. 7 attack of Israel, the House is unable to move legislation.
“I have had enough, and I think you have, too,” McClintock wrote to his colleagues. “Our conference never voted to oust our Speaker. Eight of our ‘morally superior’ colleagues made that decision for us. And for the last nine days, we’ve been jumping through their hoops.”
Rep. John Duarte, R-Hughson, who also represents part of Turlock, said he plans “to support the individual that can unify the conference so that the representatives can get back to doing what matters the most — working on behalf of their constituents.”
According to Jake Sherman, co-founder of Punchbowl News, Jordan faces a tough road.
“There is so much bad blood in the conference right now, it’s absolutely stunning,” Sherman posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Leadership is a mess — backstabbing right and left between aides, lawmakers and allies. Way worse than it’s ever been.”
