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Tags: house speaker | gop | politics | candidates | kevin mccarthy | middle east

Nine Candidates to Vie for House Speakership at Forum

By    |   Monday, 23 October 2023 08:34 PM EDT

The nine candidates now vying for the House speakership will give their best elevator pitches to their colleagues at a candidate forum Monday, according to Axios.

A source familiar with the event format told the outlet that speaker candidates will be given just two minutes to make their case, followed by a 90-minute question and answer session, and one-minute closing speeches.

According to Axios, each candidate was able to speak for 30 minutes in the previous two candidate forums.

The House is going on three weeks without a speaker since the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from the post. Fractured House Republicans have been unable to come together and elect a new speaker, following failed bids by Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

The nine candidates for House speaker include House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn.; House Republican Vice Conference Chair Mike Johnson, R-La.; Republican Study Committee Chair Kevin Hern, R-Okla.; Republican Policy Committee Chair Gary Palmer, R-Ala.; Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla.; Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich.; Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga.; Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas; and Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa.

"I think there's obviously two tiers of candidates — I'm sure everybody will say the same thing," a senior GOP lawmaker told Axios. "It seems to me it's Emmer, Johnson, Hern, Donalds' race 'til the end."

"I'm not really sure who has a leg up on any of that because everybody's got different factions and issues, so we'll see," the lawmaker added.

Another lawmaker told the outlet that the Republican conference is feeling the gravity of the situation, which has paralyzed the House and brought business to a standstill.

"The pressure now I feel like from the grassroots is, you guys look like idiots, you don't have your act together, just get this done — we need a leader," the House member said. "So, I feel like that it's not about personality, it's about the general lack of cohesion and the appearance of chaos."

Other lawmakers are more skeptical of the GOP's ability to get behind the next speaker nominee, with one telling Axios that certain candidates "will not get the votes" to gain the gavel.

On Sunday, McCarthy called the situation in the House "embarrassing" and said that the "chaos" in the lower chamber could have been over and done with by now.

"This is embarrassing for the Republican Party," McCarthy said on NBC News' "Meet the Press." "It's embarrassing for the nation, and we need to look at one another and solve the problem."

The California Republican said that both Scalise and Jordan could have served as his replacement, but "the chaos has continued."

"We need to solve this problem and we have a wide-open southern border, crushing inflation and we've got war in the Middle East," McCarthy said. "This is not a moment in time to play around with learning on the job."

Nicole Weatherholtz

Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.

© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


Politics
The nine candidates now vying for the House speakership will give their best elevator pitches to their colleagues at a candidate forum Monday, according to Axios.
house speaker, gop, politics, candidates, kevin mccarthy, middle east
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2023-34-23
Monday, 23 October 2023 08:34 PM
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