Whether he steps in as a placeholder speaker or assists House Republicans in picking the replacement for ousted Kevin McCarthy, former President Donald Trump has left no doubt that he will be a major factor in what happens next in the House.
Mr. Trump is expected to pay a visit to Capitol Hill next week for the House speaker election.
He said Thursday that if House Republicans are deadlocked, he would be willing to serve as speaker in a temporary capacity.
“I have been asked to speak as a unifier because I have so many friends in Congress,” Mr. Trump told Fox News Digital, reviving an idea that he seemed to reject a day earlier. “If they don’t get the vote, they have asked me if I would consider taking the speakership until they get somebody longer term because I am running for president.”
Mr. Trump said House Republicans asked him to lead the chamber for a short period. “I’m not doing it because I want to,” Mr. Trump said. “I will do it if necessary, should they not be able to make their decision.”
Rep. Troy E. Nehls, Texas Republican, celebrated the news that Mr. Trump could be in the mix.
“Next week is going to be HUGE,” he wrote on social media.
Not everyone in the House Republican Conference was celebrating.
Rep. Thomas Massie, Kentucky Republican, reminded his colleagues that Mr. Trump wasn’t always a budget hawk and backed the more than $2 trillion emergency COVID-19 relief in the CARES Act of 2020.
“He supported [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi’s attempt to pass it by ‘unanimous consent,’ without a quorum present. This disqualifies him from being Speaker,” Mr. Massie wrote on X.
Still, Republicans have clamored for a Speaker Trump since House rules do not require the speaker to be a member of Congress.
“We only have one choice for Speaker: President Donald J. Trump. His policies stopped the globalists and communists more than anyone else. He is the leader of the Republican Party and the only person we can trust to Save America,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, wrote on social media.
However, a GOP conference rule could prevent Mr. Trump from becoming speaker. According to Rule 26 of the Republican conference for the 118th Congress, a member of leadership who has been indicted of a felony must step aside.
Mr. Trump has been hit with four indictments with more than 90 criminal charges. The rule stipulates that if a member of leadership resigns and is acquitted, he or she can resume the position. House Republicans also can change the rules set by the conference.
If he’s not a speaker candidate, Mr. Trump surely will be a speaker-maker.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, a top contender for speaker, spoke with Mr. Trump about his candidacy but was coy about whether the former president backs him.
“I don’t want to say anything, but I had a great conversation with the president,” Mr. Jordan told NBC News.
Anyone hoping to seize the speaker’s gavel will need Mr. Trump on their side. The former president and prohibitive favorite in the 2024 GOP presidential race has demonstrated outsized influence over the House Republican Conference, whether cheering for a government shutdown or prodding lawmakers to open an impeachment investigation of President Biden.
Another Trump ally in the GOP conference, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, is also a top contender for the speaker job.
Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, chairman of the 175-member Republican Study Committee, is a vocal supporter of Mr. Trump and also eyeing a run for speaker.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.