LogFAQs > #976745703

Xeybozn posted...

Does an "interim Speaker" have all the powers of an actual Speaker? If so, why not just make McHenry the Speaker? If not, this doesn't solve anything.

We've never had a situation like this before so, as we became increasingly used to during all the norms breaking during Trump's years, "who knows?"

My understanding is that he would have the power to do whatever a majority of the House is willing to let him do. Is that a blank check to act as if he were actually Speaker? Is it specifying exactly what issues they are authorizing him to bring to a vote and only those issues?

I think we have to wait and see what the resolution will end up looking like. What's left of the Blue Dogs had one a few days ago that was basically "We give him 15 day increments and permit him to bring government funding and Ukraine/Israel aid to the floor." GOP members in the "Problem Solvers caucus" had one that was more like "we empower him until Nov 17 (I think that's the new shutdown day." And now this idea of empowering him until January 3 has come up.

Until we know exactly what's in the resolution it's hard to speculate what this will mean.

AFAIK McHenry doesn't want to be Speaker and I actually think his opinion on all this is being a bit overlooked but I'd guess he grudgingly accepts a caretaker role if the rest of the GOP forces him to.