Israel-Hamas War Increases Pressure To Fill House Speaker Vacancy

House Speaker

Republican Representatives have predicted that they could have a new House Speaker replacing McCarthy by midweek. This comes after a hectic closed-door debate to bypass the messy, long-drawn selection process that finally led to McCarthy’s appointment in January this year.

The need for a House Speaker took on fresh urgency after Hamas launched a dastardly attack on Israeli civilians, killing over a thousand people, mostly civilians. This has led to calls for more American assistance to Israel. Without a Speaker in place, representatives cannot go ahead with their legislative business in the chamber even though there is overwhelming bipartisan backing for the embattled nation.

The former Republican speaker kept his options open to a return proposition for the Speaker post on Monday. Kevin McCarthy outlined steps he thinks America should wait before responding to the catastrophe building up in the Middle East. His drawn-out press conference was evocative of his stint in the House Speaker’s chair just one week back.

Leading Republicans Call For McCarthy’s Return As House Speaker

The Republican from California refused to elaborate on the question if he saw a situation that could have him back as the Speaker. It is also not clear if he envisions himself as the correct person to take up the role of the House Speaker at this moment as he has a strong pro-Israel background. Earlier hours after his ouster from the Speaker post, McCarthy had ruled himself out of contention. He had stated in a presser that he would have the conference pick someone else for the House Speaker.

But the developments in the Middle East have injected increased urgency. Several Republican lawmakers, including Carlos Gimenez, Tom McClintock, and John Duarte have called McCarthy’s return as House Speaker. The sentiments were echoed by Mike Lawler who attended the former speaker’s press conference. Lawler stressed that McCarthy was the right person and should be reinstated as the Speaker.