Congress’ Next Battle: Speaker of the House

The next big battle in Congress won’t be over taxes or healthcare policy, it will be the race to succeed Paul Ryan as Speaker of The House.

Ryan has said he won’t step down until after the election, but it’s looking unlikely that Republicans want to go the next 9 months with a lame duck speaker.

In an interview for this Sunday’s Meet The Press, Ryan endorsed Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy for the speakership. McCarthy was next in line for the job when John Boehner was forced out but failed to consolidate enough support among conservative Republicans in the House.

McCarthy may face similar challenges this time around. Ohio Conservative Jim Jordan, the first chair of the Freedom Caucus, is angling behind the scenes to launch a bid of his own. Jordan is a darling among the right’s talk radio and activist base, but likely lacks support from moderate and establishment Republicans necessary to obtain a majority.

Jordan likely will use his run as means of leverage to gain high profile Committee and chair assignments for Freedom Caucus members, and may even try to negotiate for a Caucus member to become majority leader with McCarthy as Speaker.

Anticipating a fight, McCarthy has already begun embracing more conservative positions including spending cuts and supporting a special counsel to investigate Hillary Clinton.

Louisiana’s Steve Scalese, current Majority WHIP, is seen as a potential consensus choice if moderates and conservatives can’t negotiate a compromise on McCarthy’s bid.