Republicans who control the U.S. House of Representatives will try to move closer to picking a successor to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday, under mounting pressure from a war in the Middle East and another looming government shutdown.
The House Republican majority was due to hear from at least two candidates for the top congressional post - Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan - at an evening closed-door forum, a day before party members were expected to vote on a nominee by secret ballot.
Ahead of voting on a speaker, Republicans may first have to tackle other thorny issues, including how to move forward on government funding for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 and whether to change the rule that allowed just one lawmaker to call a vote to oust McCarthy. Jordan, a prominent hardline conservative backed by President Donald Trump, appeared to have an edge in support heading into Tuesday's meeting. But he was unlikely to do much better than split the Republican conference with Scalise, leaving each candidate short of the 218 votes needed to seize the gavel.
Lawmakers said the conference could vote on Tuesday on whether to adopt a new rule raising the threshold for choosing a nominee to 217."To me, this is empowering a small minority ... at the expense of the majority," said Representative Tom Cole, who told reporters that Republicans should instead support the nominee chosen by a simple majority of the conference.
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