House Republicans are considering a change to House rules that would force GOP lawmakers to either vote for the new House speaker nominee, or be “ostracized” from the Republican Party and lose all committee assignments.
Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla., said on C-SPAN that the idea behind this possible rule change is to force Republicans to unite around one leader, and end the squabbling that has divided the party for the last few years.
“There may also be a rule change proposed that says if you don’t support the nominee of the conference on the floor of the House, that you will be ostracized, or otherwise removed from the conference, and your committee assignments may be taken away,” he said.
When asked whether that might divide Republicans even more, he admitted that it could.
“I think that’s when you really start having a fire fight,” he said. “Hopefully, we don’t get there.”
But he said Republicans desperately need to patch things up.
“Look, we’ve got to resolve our differences,” he said. “We’ve got to understand that we as a party were elected to do good and to govern, and we’re not going to do that if we continue to have this infighting and fractionalization.”
“We have got to come together. If you want trust, you have to give trust,” he added.
Asked whether the move could backfire on House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who is looking to become the next speaker, Ross said, “It could backfire on whomever proposes that.”
On Thursday, Republicans are expected to meet and vote for a nominee to be the next speaker. That nominee will have to get a simple majority of Republican votes in that conference meeting, or 124 if all Republicans are present.
Then, on Oct. 29, that nominee will have to win 218 votes. Divisions within the party are raising the fear that some Republicans may not be able to support the nominee, which could prevent the GOP candidate from getting 218.
However, it’s possible that discussions about the rest of the GOP leadership slate might help wavering Republicans vote for the speaker nominee.
Ross said another rule change that could come up this week is one that would force members who are already in a leadership slot or who already lead a committee to resign those posts before they run for a new one.
“The rules really do protect the incumbent leadership, because you don’t have to resign to run,” he said.
