Office Hours: A new idea for Speaker of the House

Republicans may not be able to unite behind Kevin McCarthy or any current Republican, which suggests another possibility

Who will be the next Speaker of the House? When the 118th Congress is sworn in, Republicans will hold very narrow control of a House split 222-212 (with the seat of the late Rep. Donald McEachin vacant).

GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy may not make it. He needs a majority of the House, 218 members. So just 5 Republican members can nix his chances. In a secret ballot last month, 36 voted against him, including 4 from the right-wing “freedom caucus” who have vowed to oppose him during the official vote on the House floor on Jan. 3. By the same token, no freedom caucus Republican can summon the 218 votes needed.

So how will this work out? The Speaker of the House is a key player in government — appointing House members to committees, determining which bills will be considered when, and exercising overall control of the House agenda. The Speaker is also second in line, behind the Vice President, to become President should the President be unable to fulfill his or her duties.

Yet the Constitution does not require that the Speaker be a member of the House (though so far the speaker always has been). The only requirement, according to House rules, is that the Speaker be selected by a majority of House members.

Which opens an interesting possibility. If all 212 House Democrats could unite behind a potential Speaker, they need win over only 6 moderate GOP representatives to make it happen.

So here’s today’s Office Hours question: Should Democrats consider uniting behind a non-MAGA Republican from outside the House — such as soon-to-be former Rep. Liz Cheney or Massachusetts Republican Governor Charlie Baker — who could attract 6 moderate Republicans?

Please give us your views. (I’ll chime in later today.) Please also take our poll.

My further two cents: As some of you have noted, one of the many advantages of this strategy would be to disenfranchise and repudiate the traitorous freedom caucus — including South Carolina's Ralph Norman (who as late as January 17 urged Trump to invoke marshal law), Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ohio's Jim Jordan, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Paul Gosar of Arizona, and Georgia's Marjorie Taylor Greene.

As of now, they're now kingmakers. McCarthy needs their votes to become Speaker. But were the Dems to unite behind another Republican who need not even be a member of the House and who could attract just six moderate Republicans, the next Speaker will not be beholden to this mob.