Republicans are making noise about replacing Kevin McCarthy as House speaker with Donald Trump – which would violate their own conference rules.
Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), who voted against the certification of President Joe Biden's election win and has justified the Jan. 6 insurrection, announced that he would nominate the former president as the next speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives after McCarthy's unprecedented removal, reported The Guardian.
“President Trump, the greatest president of my lifetime, has a proven record of putting America first and will make the House great again," Nehls said.
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The Texas Republican suggested he had support from pro-Trump lawmakers Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Greg Stuebe (R-FL), Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Barry Moore (R-AL) and "many others," although GOP conference rules should prohibit the four-times-indicted ex-president from serving.
"A member of the Republican Leadership shall step aside if indicted for a felony for which a sentence of two or more years imprisonment may be imposed," states Rule 26 of the Republican conference rules adopted in November.
The speaker does not have to be a member of Congress, although no one has ever been elevated to that congressional role without serving in the House, but his 91 criminal charges – many of which carry far stiffer sentences than two years – would be enough to prevent Republicans from selecting him.
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It's also unclear whether Trump could get the 218 votes necessary to be chosen as House speaker, which would put him third in the line of succession to the presidency, after Biden and vice president Kamala Harris.
