On Forbes Newsroom, California Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman floated the idea of former President George W. Bush becoming the next Speaker of the House.
“He could come back,” Sherman said. “Obviously, I’m not a real fan of how the Iraq War went, but I would think that any reasonable Republican would be somebody that Democrats could work with — if it was part of a system where you didn’t have five of the most extreme Republicans blocking important legislation and saying, ‘If you bring that to the floor for a vote, we’ll knock you out of your Speakership.’”
Sherman said that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the GOP conference’s choice, would be “among one of the worst Speakers that we could have,” though Jordan would be politically useful for Democrats due to being a “disaster.”
Since the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Republican lawmakers have been unable to elect a new Speaker of the House.
The GOP conference’s first choice, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), was chosen behind closed doors late last week, then abruptly pulled out of the running.
Now, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) has been elected the House Republican Conference choice, but faces opposition from moderate Republicans.
Former President Bush is not a sitting member of Congress – and has not held elected office since January 2009 – but that does not necessarily count him out for Speaker, as one does not need to be a member of the House of Representatives to serve in that leadership position.
Watch the full interview above.
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