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By Katherine Fung
Senior Writer
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The ousting of Kevin McCarthy as speaker has left Washington D.C. wondering who will be elected to the difficult role of leading an increasingly fractured group of House Republicans.
McCarthy was officially removed from his leadership position on Tuesday after Representative Matt Gaetz filed a motion to oust him, escalating a long-brewing conflict between the two.
Representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina was announced as speaker pro tem, an interim position he will hold until another speaker is elected.
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It's unclear how much power the interim speaker would have, and it's likely the House will move quickly to elect someone else for the top role. Gaetz himself has floated the second-highest ranking House Republican, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (a McCarthy ally), as a replacement.
"I think very highly of Steve Scalise. I would vote for Steve Scalise" as well as many other Republicans, Gaetz said, according to Reuters.
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Other conservative hard-liners, like Representative Andy Biggs, have suggested the No. 3 House Republican, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, to fill the vacancy, Politico reported on Thursday. Biggs denied those reports, but Emmer's success as the head of the GOP's 2020 and 2022 campaign cycles and his ability to get the votes needed in a House where Republicans hold a razor-thin majority have made him a possible contender for the position.
"He's a good sounding board. He's got some nice conference rooms. He doesn't lie to us," Gaetz said about Emmer, according to The New York Times.
Emmer, however, has said he has no intentions of taking McCarthy's job, telling Politico: "I fully support Speaker McCarthy. He knows that and I know that. I have zero interest in palace intrigue. End of discussion."
Other House Republicans who have been named as a possible successor to McCarthy are House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, Rules Committee Chair Tom Cole, Representative Garrett Graves and Financial Services Chairman Patrick McHenry.
But McCarthy's allies, including McHenry, have insisted that the right person was already chosen, during this past January's grueling speakership fight.
"Kevin's been a highly effective speaker—he unified members in the opening week and just done an excellent job. So he's the only person who can keep it together," he told Axios.
On the other hand, McCarthy holdouts insist that "there's plenty of people who can step up and do the job," Representative Tim Burchett told the Times. Burchett did not provide a name for who that individual could be.
It's unclear how quickly a new speaker will be elected. It took McCarthy 15 tries to secure the gavel in January. The Republican Conference could become divided again in a second fight for the speakership, especially as the right-wing flank seeks more influence over leadership.
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