U.S. House speaker vote expected to be held Tuesday

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The House is expected to vote Tuesday to possibly elect a new speaker, according to a notice posted by the Democratic whip and reported late yesterday by national media including CBS, CNN and ABC.

The House has been without a speaker, who is second in line for the presidency, since Oct. 3, when Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted in a 216-210 vote, with eight Republicans joining all the Democrats in voting to remove him. It was the first time in history that a sitting speaker had been removed.

Rep. Patrick McHenry was immediately named speaker pro tempore, but the House has been left unable to conduct most business — including holding votes to support Israel or condemn Hamas after last week's attack.

Since McCarthy's ouster, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Rep. Jim Jordan both threw their hats in the ring to be nominated by Republicans as the next speaker. Scalise won in a 113 to 99 vote among Republicans, but he removed his name from consideration only one day later, saying "there are still some people that have their own agendas."

House Republicans on Friday then nominated the far-right Jordan, who members said had received 124 votes. But Rep. Austin Scott, a seven-term Georgia Republican, launched a last-minute protest candidacy before Friday's meeting and won roughly 80 votes.

Congresswoman Uifa’atali Aumua Amata was on hand and took part Friday as House Republicans nominated Congressman Jordan of Ohio for Speaker of the House, and conducted an informal vote count to determine they expect to successfully elect a Speaker with the necessary 217 votes.

The GOP Members also confirmed that Congressman Steve Scalise would remain majority leader, the next position in House leadership, a decision that Amata applauds.

Congresswoman Amata has expressed optimism throughout the process, but she has noted the need for Congress to pass appropriations, as they have until November 17, to complete funding for the year ahead, or at minimum pass another short term extension that keeps funding in place. Amata said these bills will be high on the congressional agenda as soon as a new Speaker’s election takes place in the full House of Representatives.

National media is reporting that it is unclear if Jordan has enough support from the full House, since the candidate needs a majority of the House to become speaker. Since Republicans have a slim majority in the House, they can only afford to lose four votes to get to a majority.