(Headline USA) Former President Donald Trump is in talks to visit Capitol Hill next week as Republicans debate who should be the next speaker of the House following Kevin McCarthy’s stunning ouster, according to three people familiar with the talks.
The trip would be Trump’s first to the Capitol since leaving office.
McCarthy, of California, lost his position this week when eight Republicans supported a motion introduced by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., to remove him from the speakership.
Rekindling an idea first floated in 2021, as the prospect of Republicans reclaiming the House in the midterm election became more imminent, some conservatives have put forward the idea of Trump as a speaker candidate—perhaps on an interim basis.
One of the people cautioned that if Trump goes ahead with the visit, he would be there to talk with Republican lawmakers and not to pitch himself for the role. Trump would most likely attend a closed-door candidate forum that Republicans plan to hold Tuesday evening, ahead of a vote that could happen as soon as Wednesday.
But while he is more likely to play the role of kingmaker than candidate, given his active presidential campaign and busy schedule of Democrat-led lawfare suits that have him more than hamstrug between now and Election Day, he has not entirely dismissed the possibility.
In a break during his civil trial in New York on Wednesday, he said opaquely that he would do what was best for the party, while also tantalizingly posting a graphic of himself holding the speaker’s gavel on his Truth Social account.
He also reposted what appeared to be an endorsement from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., one of several conservative lawmakers and influencers who have taken to social media in support of the idea of drafting him.
Trump said Wednesday that “a lot of people” had been calling him about the job, but insisted that he was focused “totally” on his campaign to return to the White House.
Still, he said: “If I can help them during the process, I would do it. But we have some great people in the Republican Party that could do a great job as speaker,” he added.
In a social media post early Thursday, he noted that he “will do whatever is necessary to help with the Speaker of the House selection process, short term, until the final selection of a GREAT REPUBLICAN SPEAKER is made – A Speaker who will help a new, but highly experienced President, ME, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The possibility of Trump visiting Republicans as they battle amongst themselves for a path forward caught many on Capitol Hill by surprise.
The former president’s involvement is sure to further complicate an already complex set of maneuvering the two leading candidates—Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio—will need to make in order to grasp the 218 votes required to win the job.
Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, whose name surfaced as a possible compromise solution to McCarthy during the contentious January process that preceded his election has also been floated as a top contender after having spent time on the House Steering Committee, effectively being groomed for a future leadership post.
If chosen, Donalds would make history as the first black speaker of either party, denying Democrats a significant feather in their diversity cap.
The far-flung idea of Trump being a candidate for the speakership was also raised in January by the same stalwart members of the conference. In a number of rounds, Republicans like Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Gaetz nominated Trump as their candidate. The effort was ultimately fruitless as McCarthy had the support of more than 90% of the conference.
Immediately after news of Trump’s potential visit began to trickle out, Greene, who is one of Trump’s most loyal allies in Congress, posted another endorsement of him for the job on social media. “If Trump becomes Speaker of the House, the House chamber will be like a Trump rally everyday!!” she tweeted.
If Trump becomes Speaker of the House, the House chamber will be like a Trump rally everyday!!
It would be the House of MAGA!!!
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) October 5, 2023
A person does not have to be a member of the House to serve as speaker, though that has historically been the case. From time to time lawmakers have thrown their vote to those outside of Congress, often as a protest of sorts against the candidates running.
Until a new speaker is chosen, all legislative work is the House is suspended.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
