PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — It's easy to scoff at the drama and infighting surrounding the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as speaker of the House after just nine months on the job, but nothing like this has ever happened before in U.S. history. And here's the real headline: The third most powerful position in the United States government is now vacant.
🎧 The significance of the speakership
Dr. John Kennedy is a political science professor at West Chester University and expert on American government and politics. We know the stakes for the next speaker are high. What we don't know is who's going to fill the role.
“We live in dangerous times and perilous times. And you know, the idea now we've been a week, and we don't have a speaker of the house is very concerning,” Kennedy says.
After this edition of KYW Newsradio In Depth was recorded, House Republicans on Wednesday chose Majority Leader Steve Scalise as their nominee for speaker in a secret ballot. Lawmakers exiting the room said Scalise won 113 votes, while Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the House Judiciary Committee chairman, took 99. A handful of Republicans declined to vote for either.
With Scalise falling well short of the 217 votes he will need on the House floor to win the gavel and officially take McCarthy’s place, the Louisiana congressman's path forward is far from certain.
How will the house clean up its mess? What makes the speakership so important? And what does all this say about the state of American politics and democracy?
🎧 Listen
Kennedy explains the significance of the speakership and why resolving this situation sooner rather than later is in the best interest of Republicans and Democrats alike.
Listen to the full conversation with Kennedy in the player above, on the Audacy app, or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.