By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
The US House of Representatives is in recess and the leadership decision has not got any clearer.
The Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced that he was leaving the office he has held since the 2010 election. It appeared for a few days that Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-California), the House Majority Leader, would step up and there would be a clean transfer of power from the #1 guy in the GOP Caucus to the #2 guy and that would be that. It was not to be. Conservative Representatives Daniel Webster (R-Florida) and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) challenged McCarthy. A terrible appearance on the Sunday morning talk shows where he appeared to suggest that the Benghazi committee was just a partisan effort to thwart Hillary Clinton’s presidential ambitions further eroded his support. It became increasingly clear that the ruling faction of the GOP House Caucus did not have the votes to elect McCarthy Speaker so he dropped out of the race. Both he and Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-North Carolina) deny the affair rumors that arose in the days before his withdrawal from the race.
Speaker Boehner then postponed the election and opted to remain on as Speaker while the Representatives went home to their districts for a week.
Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) said in an email to constituents “You probably heard the news that Speaker of the House John Boehner announced his resignation at the end of October as Speaker and a Member of Congress. I, like many of my other Republican colleagues, was surprised by the news. Now, with Speaker Boehner stepping down, we are tasked with selecting a new Speaker, a vote into which I always put a great deal of thought. Not only must we h
ave a Speaker who will lead and push for conservative values, we must also have a leader who can fill the all-important position of being second in line to the Presidency. This is not a vote I take lightly and you may rest assured I will be considering it seriously up unto the day that we select a new Speaker.”
Congresswoman Martha Roby (R-Montgomery) said on Facebook, “With the unusual situation in the House right now, we need a strong leader to step forward who can be bold and unite all House Republicans to advance a conservative agenda.” Rep. Roby said that conservative favorite Trey Gowdy did not want the job.
Former GOP Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) appears to be the corporate and establishment favorite to take the job; but the Ryan camp has said that the Wisconsin Congressman is not running for the job. On Wednesday Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck told Breitbart News, “His position has not changed, and I cannot predict if it will.”
A number of candidates have announced that they are looking at running; but presently only Chaffetz (who has said he would drop out if Ryan ran) and Webster are officially in the race. The House is likely to take up the issue when it returns next week.
Original reporting by Breitbart News, Fox News, and CNN contributed to this report
