Former Rep. Justin Amash responded to the drama unfolding inside the House as lawmakers struggle to elect a new speaker, suggesting the Republican-turned-Libertarian would be happy to be nominated for the top leadership position.
Amash, who represented Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District from 2011 to 2021, reacted to the House’s failure to elect a new speaker after its fourth round of voting on Wednesday, relishing the stalemate as being fun to watch.
“I love this stuff. I wish this had happened when I was in Congress,” Amash said. “I might as well be here. I think I would make a great candidate for speaker.”
Amash’s comments came shortly after the House concluded its fourth round of roll call votes to elect the next House speaker, with no nominee securing the majority vote needed to secure the gavel. The former lawmaker, who was originally elected as a Republican before becoming a Libertarian in 2020, even went so far as to offer himself as another alternative candidate in place of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
The House vote dragged into its fifth round around 2 p.m. on Wednesday, setting the stage for a floor fight the chamber hasn’t seen in 100 years. Despite positioning himself as the apparent heir to take the speaker’s gavel in the next Congress, McCarthy has been left to face a growing opposition within his own party that threatens to sink his bid.
Twenty GOP lawmakers voted against McCarthy to back Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) in the latest round of voting, with one Republican voting present. Donalds initially voted for McCarthy in the first two roll call votes before backing Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) in the third round on Tuesday, conceding that “at the end of the day, we’ve got to get to 218.”
The House is poised to enter a sixth round of roll call votes after McCarthy again failed to reach the 218-vote threshold needed to secure the majority, prompting lawmakers to begin considering other options to get the 118th Congress underway. Some Republicans went so far as to call on McCarthy to drop his bid, with Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) telling him he doesn’t have the votes to win.
Under House rules, the chamber must repeat the roll call vote process until a nominee secures the speakership — something McCarthy has vowed to do. However, without an elected speaker, the House must delay swearing in its new members, establishing new committees, and passing legislation.
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McCarthy’s failure to clinch the speakership on Tuesday marks the first time a lawmaker has failed to win the leadership position in the first round of voting since 1923, when it took nine ballots for Frederick Gillett to obtain the speakership. However, McCarthy’s defeat was not surprising, as the House Republican acknowledged he’d likely lose in the first round and vowed to go through as many roll call votes as necessary to secure the seat.
“If what’s holding up today is simply about a few members who want something they haven’t earned, we can’t give in to that,” McCarthy said before voting began Tuesday. “We have to be strong.”
