House Speaker Donald Trump?
Now that there is an opening, a handful of State Assembly members are calling for it and the former president has publicly and privately toyed with the idea.
“A lot of people have called me about the speakers. All I can say is we’re going to do whatever’s best for the country and the Republican Party,” Trump, 77, told reporters Wednesday outside the Manhattan courtroom where his civil fraud trial is underway.
“My full focus is on being president,” Trump added, noting that there are other “great people” in the GOP who can handle the job.
However, a Republican House aide told The Post Wednesday that the GOP leader is indeed “interested in the job.”
Although the speaker of the House does not technically have to be a member of Congress, having a non-member fill that role — let alone a former president — is unprecedented.
Donald Trump is considering the idea of serving as speaker as he grapples with a flood of litigation.Steven Hirsch
Additionally, there are House rules in place barring those with criminal convictions from serving in that role.
“A member of the Republican Leadership shall recuse himself if charged with a felony punishable by imprisonment of two years or more,” the 118th Congressional Rules said.
Trump has 91 criminal charges pending against him including four indictments, with potential penalties totaling more than 400 years in prison.
That rule can be tweaked, but having to fend off those legal battles while simultaneously juggling gigs as a speaker could prove challenging even for someone who proclaims himself to be Trump’s dynamism.
Still, the prospect of Trump negotiating government spending with his 2024 rival, President Biden, proved alluring to some Republicans.
Rep. Troy Nehls
Rep. Troy Nehls argues that Donald Trump is the best choice for House Republicans. AP
“Kevin McCarthy will NOT run for Speaker again. I am nominating Donald J. Trump for Speaker of the House,” Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) posted Tuesday night on X, formerly Twitter.
Nehls was not among the eight Republicans who voted to give former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) the boot, but he is generally aligned with the hard line.
Kevin McCarthy will NOT run for Speaker again.
I am nominating Donald J. Trump for Speaker of the House.
— Congressman Troy E. Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) October 3, 2023
“I think we need outsiders. The idea that we can bring in someone from the outside because Congress has been fractured for so many years, so many decades,” Nehls told WABC radio’s “Rita Cosby Show.” “Maybe some new leadership with a new vision would be good for the House.”
“If any Republican thinks he’s not the right guy, I want them to tell me why he’s not the guy,” Nehls added.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stood by Kevin McCarthy but is now putting her weight behind Donald Trump to serve as speaker.Getty Images
“The only Speaker candidate I support right now is President Donald J. Trump. He will end the war in Ukraine. He will secure the border,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) posted on X.
“We can make him Speaker and then elect him President! He will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”
The only Speaker candidate I support right now is President Donald J. Trump.
He will end the war in Ukraine.
He will secure the border.
He will end the political armed government.
He will make America free again.
He will pass my bill to quit…
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene?? (@RepMTG) October 4, 2023
Rep. Jim Jordan
Rep. Jim Jordan is running for speaker of the House. Annabelle Gordon – CNP / MEGA
“He’s going to be great,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday. “I want him at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue but if he wants to be the speaker, that’s fine too.”
Jordan announced his intention to run for speaker Wednesday morning.
Representative Matt Gaetz
“Frankly, Speaker Trump has a great ring to it,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who led the crusade to sink McCarthy and has dangled Trump’s name in the past.
Representative Kevin McCarthy
Recent speakers seem less keen on the idea.
“You have to be in the institution to understand how it works,” McCarthy, who has not publicly endorsed anyone to replace him, told reporters Tuesday night.
Kevin McCarthy became the first speaker in US history to be fired from the post.AP
Regardless, the White House insists that Biden will work with the next speaker regardless of who he is.
“When the House has fulfilled their responsibility to elect a speaker, [Biden] look forward to working with them and with the Senate to address the priorities of the American people,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement Tuesday.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
