The House Republican Conference convened this morning at 10:00 am. After making calls last night, Rep. Jim Jordan will officially announce his bid for Speaker and seek the endorsement of the Conference. Other candidates may also be nominated and considered.
The Conference will first deal with four amendments to change conference rules, all relating to the procedure by which the GOP selects a Speaker-Designate before moving to the House floor for a vote. The first is a revised amendment offered by Rep. Chip Roy to require, for the remainder of this Congress, any candidate for Speaker to receive 217 floor-eligible votes before receiving the endorsement of the Conference. 217 is the number required to secure the Speakership on the House floor if all 433 currently sworn members are present and voting.
Rep. Timmons plans also plans to offer an amendment to require a manual roll call vote upon election of the Speaker by secret ballot where Members would be asked “will you commit to support this candidate on the floor of the House?” If there are fewer that 218 votes in the affirmative, there is another question period for the candidate, followed by a second vote to confirm support. If the candidate again fails to get 218 votes, the nomination process will start over.
Rep. Huizenga’s amendment would create a validation process similar to Rep. Roy’s amendment but includes a provision that would remove Members from their current Committee assignments if a Member does not cast a vote for the Speaker-Designate on the House floor after answering in the affirmative in Conference. It also provides for the GOP Steering Committee to consider the reinstatement of forfeited Committee assignments after no fewer than 30 days and no more than 90 days.
Finally, Rep. Cammack’s amendment would increase the threshold for earning the endorsement of the Conference for Speaker-Designate from a simple majority to 80 percent of the Conference.