Rep. Garret Graves doesn’t believe that his fellow Republicans can corral a consensus candidate to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy as speaker by next week.
The candidates for the job include Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio and Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee.
Mr. Graves of Louisiana said Republicans must make sure that whomever they rally around as speaker is not set up to fail.
When asked if his party can reach consensus on a replacement by next week, Mr. Graves said, “Hell no, hell no. Look, I think there are scenarios where Patrick McHenry could be in this job for an extended period of time, and that’s why I think you’ve got to take a step back.”
Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry of North Carolina sent lawmakers home for the week following the historic ousting of California’s Mr. McCarthy on Tuesday.
Mr. McHenry scheduled a candidate forum and vote for next week to find a replacement.
SEE ALSO: Jim Jordan running to replace McCarthy as House speaker
Some lawmakers, like Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, were upset that the interim speaker sent members home, but Mr. Graves felt it was a good idea.
“I think that they made the right decision by pressing pause for a minute. … And I’m not exaggerating. I think it probably would have devolved into a little bit of physical altercation there,” Mr. Graves said. “People are mad right now, and justifiably so.”
Meanwhile, the 25-member Texas GOP delegation is meeting with speaker candidates Wednesday afternoon.
Most of the remaining lawmakers on the Hill have publicly deflected whom they want to see win the gavel.
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas told The Washington Times that he was not ready to say whom he supports.
“I think there’s stuff that we got to figure out behind the scenes or we start pushing people in a corner, so I’m not gonna do that until we figure it out as family,” Mr. Roy said.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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