As John Boehner prepares to make his exit at the end of the month, Republican infighting could once again trip him up. The Hill reports that the House speaker, who is poised to retire Oct. 30, told his friend Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) just last week: "I had this terrible nightmare last night that I was trying to get out and I couldn't get out."
Based on doubts that Republicans can get the requisite 218 votes to elect party favorite Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as speaker — and the rule that a speaker's resignation cannot take effect until there is a new speaker — it's looking like Boehner's worst nightmare could very well become a reality.
McCarthy's status as favorite was called into question after he implied last week on Fox News that the Benghazi committee was created to take down Hillary Clinton. And at least one of his two competitors, Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) — the other contender is Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) — is seizing on these doubts. "Nobody has disagreed that the current majority leader is short of 218," Chaffetz told reporters. "It's just the reality."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
If McCarthy doesn't win 218 votes in the formal floor vote, there will be additional rounds of voting. If those rounds don't produce a GOP candidate for speaker that has 218 votes, Boehner will not, in fact, be able to get out.
-
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imaginationFeature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
-
Google: A monopoly past its prime?Feature Google’s antitrust case ends with a slap on the wrist as courts struggle to keep up with the tech industry’s rapid changes
-
Patrick Hemingway: The Hemingway son who tended to his father’s legacyFeature He was comfortable in the shadow of his famous father, Ernest Hemingway
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
