Overview

Donald Trump as House Speaker Rumors refers to some campaigning among some Republicans to have former President Donald Trump fill the vacant Speaker of the House position after the ousting of Kevin McCarthy from the role in early October 2023. The movement has been resisted by Trump as he campaigns for the 2024 United States Presidential Election and his election to the Speakership is generally not considered a serious possibility as of October 2023.

Background

Following his Presidency, the idea of Donald Trump becoming Speaker of the House was pushed by some of his supporters online. On January 20th, 2021, Republican activist @DC_Draino^[2] pushed the idea on Twitter, gaining over 5,500 retweets and 21,000 likes in nearly three years (shown below).

The possibility of Trump becoming House Speaker was formally raised in the January 2023 House Speaker election when Matt Gaetz nominated Trump in the seventh of fifteen rounds of voting for the position.^[1] According to ABC reporter Jonathan Karl, Trump grew increasingly enthusiastic about becoming Speaker after Gaetz initially nominated him as a stunt, but after seeing he received only one vote in the election, he lost interest and felt his continued presence in the proceedings was an embarrassment.

Developments

Following the ouster of Kevin McCarthy from the Speakership on October 3rd, 2023, two Republicans tweeted their intention to vote for Trump as Speaker of the House: Marjorie Taylor Greene ^[3] and Troy Nehls^[4] (tweet announcements shown below).

Representatives Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz have both offered some degree of enthusiasm for the idea, though Jordan is himself in the running for the vacant Speaker seat.^[5]

Technically, there is no rule that states a person who is not a member of Congress can't be Speaker of the House, but the idea of Trump becoming Speaker is considered unlikely by political commentators.^[6] As of October 9th, 2023, there are several hurdles in the way of Trump becoming Speaker, making the idea of his eventual election to the position seem farfetched to many political commentators.

The House Republicans have a rule that states "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." Trump has been indicted four times in 2023 on 91 counts, and the max sentences of all the counts combined total several centuries of prison time. However, House Republicans could choose to alter or ignore that rule if they so desired.

As of October 9th, the favorites to take the Speakership role are Republicans Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan.^[7] Trump has also notably endorsed Jordan for the role.^[8]

Search Interest

External References