Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia uses her phone during a hearing on April 18, 2023.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
House Republicans are set to choose a new speaker next Wednesday, and it’s unclear who that will be.
Some of them have apparently turned to Twitter to help their decision-making — or to make a point.
“Let me know your thoughts in the replies,” wrote one House Republican.
You — yes, you — could play a small role in helping to choose the next speaker of the House.
As House Republicans try to settle on a candidate to take the reigns after Kevin McCarthy’s sudden defenestration this week, some of them are polling their Twitter followers on who they’d like to see in the top job.
The conference is set to vote behind closed doors on Wednesday after hearing from candidates on Tuesday.
In some cases, it seems to be merely an effort to prove a point. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who was trumpeting the idea of House Speaker Donald Trump until he endorsed Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, asked Twitter users to choose between Trump, Jordan, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
62.4% of the more than 76,447 respondents, perhaps unsurprisingly, supported Trump.
But others seem to be engaging in a more earnest matter, evincing a genuine interest in what their followers have to say.
Rep. Nick LaLota of New York, who represents a somewhat competitive Long Island House district, wrote on Twitter (now technically called “X”) that he wanted someone who would “champion common-sense conservative approaches.”
“That said, who would you like to see as the next Speaker of the House?,” wrote LaLota. “Let me know your thoughts in the replies.”
As of publishing time, LaLota had received a mere 9 replies.
Rep. Russell Fry of South Carolina, who won his seat by defeating a Republican congressman who voted to impeach Trump, is also running a Twitter poll, offering respondents the choice between Jordan, Scalise, and Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, who may also seek the position but hasn’t yet officially declared his candidacy.
And Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee, who now supports Jordan, may have been the first to the punch at seeking the input of his Twitter followers on who should lead the House of Representatives.
Hours before McCarthy had even been ousted, Ogles asked his followers for their input on who should be the next speaker, listing eight different names including Rep. Jodey Arrington of Texas and Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida.