House Republicans are gathering behind closed doors on Wednesday morning to select their candidate for speaker after ex-Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s historic ouster last week.
GOP lawmakers are expected to hold their inter-party election at 10 a.m. after getting briefed on the unfolding crisis in Israel – which adds a sense of urgency as lawmakers scramble to restore order in Congress.
“I don’t know if by the end of this week we will have a speaker. If you were to ask me a couple days ago, pre-Israel being horrifically attacked by Hamas, I would have told you that it would have been a month before we had a speaker,” Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., told reporters after a closed-door GOP meeting on Tuesday night.
‘UNMITIGATED S—SHOW’: HOUSE REPUBLICANS FUME OVER SPEAKER VACANCY AMID ISRAEL CRISIS
Two Republicans – Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Steve Scalise of Louisiana – both launched bids for House speaker on Wednesday. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The two candidates formally in the race are Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., was doubtful a candidate will be chosen by the end of the day.
“I think there’s some [lawmakers] that have some problems with past behavior and each other, and so I think it’s going to take more than one day to get this done,” Murphy told Fox News Digital.
HOUSE VOTES TO REMOVE KEVIN MCCARTHY AS SPEAKER IN HISTORIC FIRST
![Greg Murphy](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/03/1200/675/GettyImages-1247993649.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., said he was doubtful a speaker could be chosen on Wednesday
Another factor in the mix is an expected rules vote ahead of the vote on whether to raise the threshold for choosing a speaker within the GOP conference.
Under the current rules, a speaker nominee is chosen by a simple majority vote of the party. But more than 100 lawmakers have signed onto a letter calling for that threshold to be 217 — a majority of the House overall.
“That’s first thing we’ve got to consider is our rules, that’s going to be tomorrow morning, I believe,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., who led calls for the rule change along with Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.
![Kat Cammack speaks on the House floor](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2023/01/1200/675/GettyImages-1245995839.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fl., shared a similar sentiment to Murphy’s (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Asked if he believes that rule with pass, Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., told reporters, “I hope it does.”
“I think that if we’re going to have a mess, we should have it in private,” Buck said.
It’s not yet clear when the full House will vote on a speaker. That vote is likely to be scheduled sometime after Republicans pick their candidate.