Morning Report — Paralysis in the House

Presented by Collaborative for Student Success — The House of Representatives is looking for a Speaker.

View Online  MORNING REPORT PRESENTED BY Thursday, October 5  by Kristina Karisch Thursday, October 5  by Kristina Karisch © The Associated Press / J. Scott Applewhite | House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), pictured in 2022, have both announced their intentions to seek the Speaker's gavel. Paralysis in the House The House of Representatives is looking for a Speaker.     After Rep. Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) dramatic Tuesday ouster, and Rep. Patrick McHenry's (R-N.C.) installation as acting Speaker, Republican lawmakers on Wednesday appeared no closer to coalescing around a successor.     The House isn't scheduled to meet again until Tuesday, when official deliberations for the next candidate will begin, with an internal election set for Wednesday. But some House Republicans — including Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) — have already expressed their intention to run for the post. Other GOP members have floated different candidates, including former President Trump. (There is no requirement that the Speaker of the House be a member of the chamber, though Trump's appointment is unlikely.)  There are scenarios where this could be going on for weeks," Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) said Wednesday.  A HOUSE DIVIDED: On one side, hard-line conservatives — including but not limited to the eight members who voted to oust McCarthy — want a leader who will take an aggressive stance on issues like spending and the border. Opposite them stand members who are infuriated by McCarthy's ouster by a handful of their colleagues and who want to make it harder to remove any future Speakers (The Hill).     McCarthy himself is no bystander to the turmoil that so often defined his tenure in the House; he was an early architect of the new Republican Party that came into the fore with the Tea Party movement of the 2010s. And now, with no Speaker, a position that's second in line to the presidency, Congress cannot fully function during a time of simmering uncertainty at home and abroad (The Associated Press).     "I think the mood is not great," Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) told The Washington Post, noting that he doesn't believe any candidate can currently get the 217 votes needed to secure the Speakership. He has one question for whoever wants the job: "How are you going to ensure that what happened never happens again?"    ALL THAT TO SAY: The House is facing an unprecedented moment, and the next government funding deadline is just 43 days away. In The Memo, The Hill's Niall Stanage breaks down five key takeaways from the ouster.  The Hill: Who will be the next Speaker? The New York Times analysis: The glib Californian made many promises and paid a price when he was unable to fulfill them. But his demise also reflected the challenge of wielding a Republican majority that refuses to be governed. Politico: McCarthy never asked Trump for a bailout as his Speakership disappeared. Roll Call: How McHenry went from partisan "attack dog" to holding the fate of the House in his hands. MCCARTHY'S ALLIES are fuming at Democrats for failing to back him amid his historic ejection, The Hill's Rebecca Beitsch reports, leaving Democrats arguing they have no one to blame but themselves. McHenry exacted some swift revenge — booting both Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) from their hideaway offices in the Capitol. The move came after McCarthy called out Pelosi, who is in California for the funeral of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), claiming she failed to keep a promise made during his 15-vote battle for the Speakership to back him if his members ever sought to vote him out.    GOING AFTER GAETZ: Republicans are also venting their anger with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), the hard-right firebrand who led the charge for McCarthy's ouster, The Hill's Mychael Schnell reports. At least two GOP lawmakers have said Gaetz should be booted from the House Republican conference, an unlikely outcome that, nonetheless, underscores the raw frustration — and anger — with Gaetz among members of his party. Rep. Anthony D'Esposito (R-N.Y.) said Gaetz's move to eject McCarthy from the Speakership amounted to "one of the greatest acts of heresy."    "He's literally taken one of our oldest institutions and put it into a downward spiral all over selfish needs, all over Twitter feeds and raising money," D'Esposito said during an interview on CNN.    Politico: Gaetz just positioned himself for Florida governor. Many view his moves as a bid for attention ahead of 2026.    ALSO WATCHING: The future of Ukraine aid in Congress, which is facing uncertainty after McCarthy's ouster. And Sen. Rick Scott's (Fla.) vow, alongside 20 of his Republican colleagues, to delay any legislation moving on the Senate floor that does not relate directly to funding the government as they face a pileup of spending bills and a possible government shutdown.    3 THINGS TO KNOW TODAY Feinstein's funeral will be held today at the San Francisco City Hall steps, with standing room available for the public.  The White House is feeling bewilderment and schadenfreude over McCarthy's ouster. Its biggest concern now: the 43-day countdown to salvage Ukraine aid and avoid another shutdown showdown.  The war within the House GOP has thrown another wrench into financial markets. Wall Street experts say the political dysfunction behind McCarthy's ouster poses risks at a time of already heightened fears.   Morning Report's Alexis Simendinger is on leave.    Leading the Day © The Hill / Greg Nash | Rep. Michael Lawler (R-N.Y.) at the Capitol in September. On The Campaign Trail Republicans are voicing concerns that the infighting surrounding former McCarthy's ouster could lead to defeats in competitive House districts next year, The Hill's Julia Manchester reports. Many in the GOP say the intraparty chaos paints a picture of a divided party obsessed with the inside workings of Washington and out of touch with voters outside of the beltway. For swing district Republicans in states like New York and California, that image could be a liability as the GOP leans on them to hold onto its razor-thin majority; there are 18 vulnerable Republicans running in districts that Biden won in 2020, and Democrats only need to flip a net five seats to win control of the lower chamber.    New York Rep. Mike Lawler (R), who represents the state's 17th Congressional District, is one of the moderate Republicans running in a Biden district. On Wednesday, Lawler hit Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, accusing the Democrat of aligning himself with Gaetz "to upend the institution and seek political gain in the process." Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) fired back at Lawler on the platform, noting his vulnerability going into 2024.     "Nice story," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "You could also do the right thing, Lawler. Your district voted for Biden by 10 pts. You could end this by representing and voting for Jeffries. A lot easier for you to vote your district than expecting me to vote for a man who wants to take my right to choose away."  2024 ROUNDUP Here's where the 2024 presidential candidates stand on elections, voting and elections security. Fourteen percent of voters say they dislike both of the leading candidates for president, according to the latest PBS NewsHour/NPR/Marist poll, more than four times the number who were dissatisfied with Biden and Trump in 2020. Trump's voters are more excited than Biden's, the poll shows. But Trump could lose a lot if he's convicted.  Most of the top Republican candidates running for president in 2024 reacted grimly to McCarthy's ouster by a faction of hard-liners in their own party, urging their fellow party members to stop the chaos.  From a Washington basement, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon has helped create the spectacle of GOP dysfunction, using it to build his own following and those of the right-wing House rebels who took down McCarthy.  Embattled Sen. Bob Menendez's (D-N.J.) wife, Nadine Arslanian Menendez, struck and killed a man while driving in New Jersey in 2018. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R) campaign has gotten a $15 million cash infusion and is moving a significant number of staff to Iowa.  The fraud trial that could block Trump from doing business in New York drilled down Wednesday into the question of who — his company or hired accountants — bore responsibility for financial statements that the state calls fraudulent.  Introducing: Staffer Spotlights The Hill is partnering with the CNCT app to highlight profiles of staffers on Capitol Hill and elsewhere in politics. First up: Meet Aaron Bennett, a speechwriter for then-candidates Kamala Harris and Joe Biden Read here Where and When The House convenes at 10 a.m. on Friday.    The Senate is adjourned until Monday, Oct. 16 at 3 p.m.    The president will receive the President's Daily Brief. At noon, he will be briefed on Ukraine by members of his national security team.    Vice President Harris will travel to San Francisco with second gentleman Doug Emhoff to attend Feinstein's funeral, where she will speak.    The secretary of state is in Mexico, speaking with U.S. and Mexican officials about border security, migration and the fentanyl epidemic. He will meet with officials, including Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.    The White House press briefing is scheduled for 1 p.m.  Zoom In © The Associated Press / Evan Vucci | Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) in Chicago in June. The White House is increasingly facing criticism over its attempts to address the flow of migrants across the southern border from a somewhat unexpected source: Democratic allies. As The Hill's Alex Gangitano and Brett Samuels write, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D), a member of the Biden campaign's national advisory board, wrote a letter to the White House this week expressing concerns about how migrants arriving in his state from Texas are straining resources. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) spoke with White House officials on Sunday about the same topic.     While Republican lawmakers have relentlessly criticized the White House for the surge of migrants at the border, the fact that more and more Democrats are pressing the issue underscores how big of a problem it may be for the White House.    The Associated Press: The Biden administration waived 26 federal laws to allow border wall construction in South Texas. CBS News: A record number of Venezuelan migrants crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in September, internal data show. NewsNation: Which cities are getting the most migrants bused to them? The Associated Press: New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) heads to Latin America with a message for asylum-seekers: "We are at capacity." Content from our sponsor: Collaborative for Student Success  Moving the Needle on Math Education Stay updated on efforts to advance math with high-quality instructional materials, assessment data, and education recovery investments with the Collaborative for Student Success. Elsewhere © The Associated Press / Mark Schiefelbein | Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena and Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department in September. INTERNATIONAL Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top Biden administration officials will travel to Mexico City today, hoping to bolster a strategy to confront staggering fentanyl overdoses in the United States and soaring migration in the Western Hemisphere.    While the United States and Mexico have emphasized the importance of their economic ties, the meetings come as rhetoric from both nations has grown increasingly contentious over how to confront foreign policy challenges including drug trafficking and illegal immigration. While the meeting is not expected to yield groundbreaking policy announcements, it presents an opportunity to ease some of the tensions between the two allies (The New York Times).    Blinken is scheduled to discuss migration today with Mexico's Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Bárcena, as well as the foreign ministers of Colombia and Panama (The Associated Press).    Meanwhile, after a year and a half of war, Ukraine's leaders have a new reason to worry: Mounting political chaos in Washington is threatening to derail their supply of money and weapons. In Kyiv, officials are at a loss as to what might happen next. Their staunchest military ally suddenly looks unreliable, despite assurances from Biden and others the U.S. will remain steadfast until Ukraine's invaders are defeated (Politico EU).  The Associated Press: Russia says it has foiled a major Ukraine drone attack as concerns grow over Kyiv's weapons supplies.  The New York Times: When Russia is a neighbor, self-defense is everyone's concern. Even though it's now part of NATO, a wary Finland still requires men to serve their country. Women can volunteer, and many do. Opinion Exit stage (far) right: McCarthy's nightmare is now America's ordeal, by Max Burns, opinion contributor, The Hill.   Give Gaetz the silent treatment, by Karl Rove, columnist, The Wall Street Journal.  The Closer © The Associated Press / Patrick Semansky | Then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) holds the gavel in 2022. Take Our Morning Report Quiz    And finally … It's Thursday, which means it's time for this week's Morning Report Quiz! Inspired by McCarthy's ouster as Speaker, we're eager for some smart guesses about Speakers of the House.    Be sure to email your responses to kkarisch@thehill.com — please add "Quiz" to your subject line. Winners who submit correct answers will enjoy some richly deserved newsletter fame on Friday.    McCarthy's election to the Speakership in January lasted 15 rounds. But one Speaker — Nathaniel P. Banks of Massachusetts — took even longer to secure the gavel. How many rounds did the 1856 Speaker's election last?  15  30  133  67    How many Speakers have served nonconsecutive terms?  Eight  Seven  Two  Three   Who holds the record as the longest-serving Speaker?  Tip O'Neill  Nancy Pelosi  Champ Clark  Sam Rayburn    The state that has produced the most Speakers is…  Massachusetts  California  Texas  New Jersey  Stay Engaged We want to hear from you! Email: Alexis Simendinger and Kristina Karisch. 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