UPDATE: It's a rumor no more. Speaker Boehner announced today that elections for House Majority Leader and Whip will be pushed back a month. Over the weekend, it was rumored that Boehner might do this, though his office said all leadership elections were for this Thursday at the time. Change of plans, I guess (via Politico):
Speaker John Boehner postponed the election of majority leader and majority whip until next month, a blow to Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) who announced Sunday night he had the votes to win the race.
The House Republican Conference will still choose its nominee for speaker of the House Thursday, and the full chamber will vote on the next speaker on Oct. 29.
The following is a statement from the Speaker's Office:
When I made my announcement last month, I said that I would continue to serve through the month of October. After consulting with my colleagues, I am announcing today that all members of the House of Representatives will vote to elect their next Speaker during a floor vote on October 29th.
“Next Thursday, October 8th, the members of the House Republican Conference will meet to elect our nominee for Speaker. After the new Speaker is elected on October 29th, the members of our Conference will select the rest of their leadership team. The new Speaker will establish the date for these additional leadership elections. This new process will ensure House Republicans have a strong, unified team to lead our conference and focus on the American people’s priorities.”
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Updates are sure to follow.
***Original Post***
Via Politico, there are rumors that outgoing Speaker of the House John Boehner might postpone elections for the House Majority Leader and Whip in order to quell unrest within the Republican Conference. If this were to happen, only the vote for speaker would happen this Thursday. Yet, as of now, all leadership elections are still on, according to Boehner’s office.
There is serious unrest in the House Republican Conference, and delaying the elections might give more time for the mood to settle, according to sources involved in the planning.But the move would also give the right wing of the conference more time to find a candidate to run against Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise and Georgia Rep. Tom Price.
"There is a broad interesting in discussing rule changes before we discuss leadership changes," Mulvaney and Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) said. "Conservatives and centrists alike are interested in changing the structure of the way the conference is run and the way the House is operated. If we move immediately into leadership elections, we may not have time to have the debate."
Boehner (R-Ohio) has not yet agreed to a delay, but he will discuss it with fellow leaders Monday and Tuesday.
"All leadership elections remain on Thursday," said Kevin Smith, a spokesman for the speaker.
Speaker Boehner is set to resign his speakership and his seat in Congress on October 30. He had planned to serve on through the end of last year, but former Rep. Eric Cantor’s defeat to David Brat changed the whole agenda, according to Boehner’s office. The speaker also thought of the institution as well, and how a prolonged battle over who would replace him would do irreparable damage to the office.
As Guy pointed out on Friday, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) has tossed his hat into the House speakership ring, challenging the favored Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
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