Joe Biden has made a mess of the White House for sure. But no one expected him to make this cunning shift.
And Biden just made the last move Trump ever expected.
California Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman has proposed that former President George W. Bush occupy the vacant Speaker of the House seat as Republicans strive to restore order to the lower house of Congress after almost a month of mayhem.
“He could come back,” Sherman said on the “Forbes Newsroom” podcast.
“Obviously, I’m not a real fan of how the Iraq War went, but I would think that any reasonable Republican would be somebody that Democrats could work with — if it was part of a system where you didn’t have five of the most extreme Republicans blocking important legislation and saying, ‘If you bring that to the floor for a vote, we’ll knock you out of your Speakership.’”
Sherman slammed some dysfunctional features of the House of Representatives, most notably the Republican Party’s ouster of former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) last month.
Since the historic removal, the chamber has been unable to vote on legislation such as forthcoming fiscal year 2024 spending measures, preventing a government shutdown, and providing help to Israel’s war against Hamas.
According to reports, House Republicans nominated Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) last week, after two rounds of secret balloting, to become Speaker as soon as midday Tuesday.
Jordan, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, secured the Republican nomination for president in his second attempt on Friday.
He defeated Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) in a Republican conference vote of 124-81. Republicans voted 152-55 in a second secret ballot asking members if they would back Jordan in a House floor vote.
However, the member still faces a hurdle in securing the simple majority required to secure victory in a chamber-wide vote.
Sherman dubbed Jordan “among the worst speakers” in the House, but observed that it’s good politics for Democrats because the Ohio Republican had former President Donald Trump’s support.
Nonetheless, Sherman claims he would vote for Bush or Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), both of whom he describes as “traditional” Republicans.
“It’s not the person, it’s the program,” Sherman said.
“And if the program is to say that if a bill passes, the Senate will get an up or down vote on it in the House. And that would be more important to me than the personality.”
Although Bush is not a member of Congress and has not held elected office since 2009, his status does not necessarily disqualify him from holding the position, as the U.S. House of Representatives does not require the speaker to be a member of the lower chamber — despite elected officials consistently voting for one.
The House is set to vote on the speaker as soon as Tuesday, two weeks after Democrats and eight Republicans voted to remove McCarthy.
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) is the speaker pro tempore for the time being.
Jordan has received critical support from Republican lawmakers since his nomination last week, including McCarthy, members of the House Freedom Caucus, and House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL).
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
