House Republicans will have to elect a speaker in the coming days, and CNN is reporting that the GOP still has no idea if it will actually have a speaker in place in time to certify President-elect Donald Trump's 2024 election victory.
Should there be enough holdouts in the House to block Rep. Mike Johnson's (R-LA) election to the speakership, it would put every other piece of House business -- including the certification of the presidential election results due to take place on January 6 -- on hold indefinitely.
Because of this, writes CNN's Sarah Ferris, some Republicans have already started "doomsday prepping for a speakerless Trump certification," although it's unclear how such a certification would occur.
This is especially true, adds Ferris, because there will be no speaker pro tempore in place to take over should Johnson fail to secure the votes needed this coming Friday.
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"Some Republicans are privately discussing ways to push the procedural limits so that Congress can certify Trump’s win without a leader," reports CNN. "One person described an 'emergency break glass option' that would involve allowing the House to vote to go into a special session. But that would be a tough sell for many institutionalist Republicans."
The problem, as one Republican source tells CNN, is that House rules traditionally say that the legislature cannot function unless a speaker is in place.
“You’re literally just stuck in a cyclical pattern of speaker votes with the clerk overseeing,” the source said.
Another unnamed House Republican lamented to CNN that their party has transformed what should be a routine vote into a nail-biter.
“A vast majority of Republicans are rational, but not every member of the Republican conference is rational,” said the Republican, who described a protracted fight over the speakership as "monumentally stupid."
