U.S. Rep. Greg Pence chats with people before the Greenwood State of the City Thursday afternoon at the Greenwood Fieldhouse.
Rep. Greg Pence, R-Ind., has criticized the far-right effort to remove fellow Republican Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House but wouldn’t say who he would support to succeed him to take over the gavel.
McCarthy, a California Republican, became the first Speaker in history to be removed from office after the House passed a resolution by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., on Tuesday with the support of eight Republicans and all the Democrats who were present and voting, The Associated Press reported.
Pence voted against removing McCarthy from the speakership and characterized the effort to oust the former Speaker and select a new one as “a waste of time” that “disrupts our ability to govern.”
“I voted to support Kevin McCarthy,” Pence said in a statement. “Ousting Speaker McCarthy and electing a new Speaker is a waste of time when we have an upcoming deadline to pass appropriations bills. It disrupts our ability to govern and will only delay our efforts to pass conservative policies that will help Hoosiers and all Americans. Moving forward, I am hopeful that we will focus on lowering inflation, securing our southern border, regaining American energy dominance and fighting back against the Biden administration’s woke policies.”
Following the removal of McCarthy, several Republicans have been mentioned in media reports as vying to be his successor, including Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., the current No. 2 House Republican; and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the chairman of the judiciary committee. McCarthy has said he will not run for the job again.
Some far-right members of the House have vowed to nominate former President Donald Trump, who is facing 91 felony counts in four criminal cases in Washington, New York, Florida and Georgia. The Speaker of the House does not have to be a member of the House.
On his social media network on Wednesday afternoon, Trump posted an image of himself doctored to appear as if he was sitting in the House speaker’s chair, holding the speaker’s gavel while wearing his red “Make America Great Again” hat, according to wire reports.
Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., and Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., who is serving as interim House speaker until a successor is chosen, also have been mentioned as possible candidates.
Currently, it is unclear who Pence will support. His staff wouldn’t directly respond to questions on who he would back to become the next House speaker or if the third-term congressman from Columbus had made up his mind yet.
Pence was an avid supporter of Trump during his time in the White House, voting in line with the former president’s position 98.9% of the time while in the House, according to data-driven news site FiveThirtyEight. Trump also endorsed Pence in the 2022 midterm even as he sparred with his brother and former running mate, former Vice President Mike Pence, over efforts to overturn to the 2020 election.
Scalise also has supported Rep. Pence in the past, contributing $8,000 to his campaign committee from 2019 to 2022, according to the Federal Election Commission.
At least one House Republican representing Indiana has already endorsed a possible successor for the speakership. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., has said he will back Jordan’s bid to become speaker.
