WASHINGTON (Michigan News Source) – On Tuesday, after three unsuccessful votes to install a new Speaker of the House in the 118th Congress, the country is left without leadership in the House of Representatives.

At the end of the third round of voting, there were 20 Republicans who voted for Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan instead of Kevin McCarthy to be Speaker of the House even though Jordan doesn’t want the position. It was a group of conservatives who voted for Jordan because they don’t trust McCarthy. On the other side of the aisle, all of the Democrats voted for New York Rep. and Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries to be Speaker. Jeffries is the first black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress.

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The candidate for the speakership needs a majority of the votes from the House members who are present and are voting. On Tuesday, that number was 218 but the number can be lowered if the number of voters changes because they vote “present” or skip the vote. The number can also change if the member-elects vote to change the rules to choose a Speaker by a plurality of the vote.

It’s been 100 years since the Speaker vote has gone beyond the first vote. That happened in 1923 when the speakership wasn’t resolved until the 9th vote. In 1849, the election took more than 60 ballots until the issue was resolved.

The situation of not having a Speaker of the House brings about several complications including the fact that all of the new Representatives can’t be sworn in until there is a Speaker to swear them. Those politicians are all currently considered to be member-elects. This situation also stalls the business of the House and any work that the 222 new Republican Representatives voted into the House want to get started.

Michigan has 13 reps who currently aren’t sworn in yet including Jack Bergman, John Moolenaar, Hillary Scholten, Bill Huizenga, Tim Walberg, Debbie Dingell, Elissa Slotkin, Daniel Kildee, Lisa McClain, John James, Haley Stevens, Rashida Tlaib and Shri Thanedar.

Another issue is that the work of the entire country won’t be getting done legislatively because anything coming out of the Senate won’t be able to go to the House to be considered. And what if we need to declare war?

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The nominees for the Speaker of the House position don’t actually have to be in the House of Representatives. And maybe that’s why people outside of the chamber are nominating themselves for the position. One of those politicians is former west Michigan U.S. Rep. Libertarian Justin Amash.

Amash, who retired from his House seat in 2020, took to Twitter on Tuesday night and tweeted, “I’m not a current member of Congress, but I do know what’s at stake. I’d gladly serve as speaker of the House for one term to show people the kind of legislative body we can have if someone at the top actually cares about involving every representative in the work of legislating.”

Amash, who if from Cascade Township, also tweeted, “I’d allow amendments from the floor. I’d give members adequate time to review bills. I’d ask for recorded votes and end proxy voting. We can make the House work as it was meant to work—not as an oligarchy, but as a deliberative body that respects the diversity of its membership.”

He also said, “The House needs to be a representative body. It’s not. It wasn’t under Ryan or Pelosi. It won’t be under McCarthy. I can’t relate to why anyone who supports our Constitution is okay with this.”

Unfortunately for Amash, it doesn’t look like McCarthy is stepping down from the nomination anytime soon and has said so. He’s also pointed to having former President Trump’s approval. He said that he spoke to Trump on Tuesday night and that “He (Trump) thinks it is better that all the Republicans get together and solve this…It doesn’t look good for Republicans, but we want to be able to solve it when we’re stronger in the long run. What we went through today, in the end, becomes a positive that we’re actually focused, united, much more.”

Trump put out his endorsement for McCarthy shortly before 8:00 AM EST on Wednesday morning on Truth Social. He said, “ Some really good conversations took place last night, and it’s now time for all of our GREAT Republican House Members to VOTE FOR KEVIN, CLOSE THE DEAL, TAKE THE VICTORY, & WATCH CRAZY NANCY PELOSI FLY BACK HOME TO A VERY BROKEN CALIFORNIA,THE ONLY SPEAKER IN U.S. HISTORY TO HAVE LOST THE ‘HOUSE’ TWICE! REPUBLICANS, DO NOT TURN A GREAT TRIUMPH INTO A GIANT & EMBARRASSING DEFEAT. IT’S TIME TO CELEBRATE, YOU DESERVE IT. Kevin McCarthy will do a good job, and maybe even a GREAT JOB – JUST WATCH!”

The big question right now that I haven’t seen answered is…who is in line to the presidency if something happens to President Biden and VP Kamala Harris during all of this?

According to the Daily Mail, House clerk Cheryl Lynn Johnson is currently presiding over the lower chamber right now while we wait for former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to turn the gavel over to someone in order to conclude the peaceful transition of power.

According to the document “The First Day of a New Congress” put out by the Congressional Research Service updated on December 15, 2022, “After the Speaker’s election, the Clerk appoints a bipartisan committee to escort the Speaker-elect to the Speaker’s chair on the dais (raised platform). The Speaker-elect is escorted by leaders of both parties and, often, by Representatives-elect from his or her home state. He or she is introduced to the chamber by the minority leader, who might deliver a statement from the chair. The Speaker may make a statement of his or her own and then takes the oath of office. By precedent, the dean of the House, the most senior (longest-serving) Member, regardless of party, administers the oath to the Speaker.”