UPDATE (Oct. 19, 2023 11:45 a.m. ET): NBC News reported on Thursday that Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, will back a plan to temporarily empower interim speaker Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., until January.
In the two weeks since the dramatic vote to declare the office of speaker of the House vacant, all eyes have been on the man tapped to keep the lights on until a new speaker could be elected: Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, a Republican from North Carolina.
According to the House’s rules, technically speaking, McHenry’s only job right now is to run the election of a new speaker. But Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is struggling to gain the 217 votes needed to win, and he lost a second vote on the House floor Wednesday. The ongoing paralysis has some members wondering whether McHenry needs to be given more powers to allow for at least some movement on a number of crises. If it happens, it’ll most likely be with the help of House Democrats, which in itself would be an admission that the Republican Conference is unable to perform even the most basic functions of a majority party.
According to the House’s rules, technically speaking, McHenry’s only job right now is to run the election of a new speaker.
McHenry was thrust into this role thanks to his close relationship with former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. When McCarthy was elected speaker in January, the House rules required him to submit to the House clerk a list of names of people who would temporarily take up the gavel if he were incapacitated or removed. McHenry, who chairs the Financial Services Committee, was a key ally during the 15 rounds of voting it took to elect McCarthy as speaker. McCarthy also named him a lead negotiator with the White House in shaping the deal to raise the debt ceiling in June.
Since being named speaker pro tempore, McHenry has seemed reluctant to stray too far from a strict reading of the House rule that established his current role. His time in the speaker’s office is meant to last only “until the election of a Speaker or a Speaker pro tempore,” according to the House’s rules. “Pending such election the Member acting as Speaker pro tempore may exercise such authorities of the Office of Speaker as may be necessary and appropriate to that end.”
You may notice that the rule talks about electing a speaker or a speaker pro tempore. That’s because historically the powers a speaker pro tempore possesses depend on whether he or she was designated or elected to that role. Designated speakers pro tempore tend to be extremely temporary, like when the speaker turns over the job of presiding over the House to other members. (Members giving speeches on the floor, accordingly, always address them to “Mister or Madame Speaker,” no matter who’s actually chairing the debate.)
There’s precedent for the House to elect a temporary speaker for a longer period, especially if the speaker knows there are bills to be passed by both houses during an absence. Elected speakers pro tempore have an expanded range of powers but still have specified ends to their tenures, namely when the speaker resumes the position or a new speaker is elected. But there hasn’t been a speaker pro tempore election in decades, and one has never been held because the speakership was forcibly vacated.
That’s likely to change, though, given Jordan’s inability to muster the votes needed to become speaker. Several Republicans, including Ohio’s Dave Joyce and Pennsylvania’s Mike Kelly, have said they want a vote on expanding McHenry’s powers. Kelly drafted a resolution Tuesday that would designate McHenry as speaker pro tempore until Nov. 17, the date funding for the federal government is scheduled to expire. That would give the House roughly a month under McHenry to approve new spending legislation, either in the form of yearlong appropriations bills or a new continuing resolution like the one passed last month to avoid a shutdown. It would also give the House the ability to potentially vote on funding for Israel in its war against Hamas, a major concern for members in both parties.
Just because there’s precedent for the House’s electing a speaker pro tempore, though, doesn’t mean McHenry is sure to be voted into the position. For starters, if he wants the gig, he’s being awfully coy about it. “The resolution is electing a speaker. That’s what we are trying to resolve today,” he told reporters ahead of Wednesday’s vote, according to NBC News. “I want to elect Jim Jordan speaker, and that’s what we are going to the floor to do.”
Just because there’s precedent for the House’s electing a speaker pro tempore, though, doesn’t mean McHenry is sure to be voted into the position.
That was not, in fact, what they did, though, as Jordan actually managed to lose support in the second round of voting. He has declared that he plans to stay in the race for as many ballots as it takes, but the momentum to break the logjam seems to be growing by the day. Former speakers John Boehner and Newt Gingrich have signaled their support for the idea of elevating McHenry. But Jordan has also signaled to his allies that backing a McHenry stewardship wouldn’t fly, framing it as essentially a gateway drug to a coalition government with Democrats.
Jordan is probably half-right there, as it seems probable that a resolution electing McHenry speaker pro tempore would need Democratic votes to get it over the line. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has said he’s open to the idea, telling reporters Wednesday that “all options are on the table to end the Republican civil war.” Democrats spent time after the failed vote discussing whether to support empowering McHenry, but no decision had been made as of Wednesday night.
Whether Democrats would try to extract some kind of concessions from McHenry for their support remains to be seen. That could include having a floor vote on a new round of military funding for Ukraine, something that McCarthy was loath to do for fear of upsetting the far-right flank of his caucus. But the desire to get the House functioning again, for at least a little while, may wind up winning out over any concrete gains for Democrats.
Given the complete inability of any member of the House GOP to win over the full caucus, temporarily boosting McHenry’s powers makes sense to me. The clock is ticking on a government shutdown, and nothing can be done to find a solution with the speaker fight still ongoing. But electing Speaker Pro Tempore McHenry would be placing a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. It may cover over the festering rot that has infected the Republican caucus, hiding the complete collapse of its ability to govern, but only for a time.
