Former US President Donald Trump showed his willingness to become a short-term speaker of the House of Representatives Thursday to act as a unifier as he is planning to pay a visit to Capitol Hill next week after the removal of Kevin McCarthy.
Donald Trump told Fox News that if the Republican party could not make ground for another candidate with consensus, he would put himself forward to act as a unifier.
A presidential candidate can assume the office of the Speaker technically after the seat is vacant due to the removal of Grand Old Party’s (GOP) member Kevin McCarthy.
The former Speaker of the House of Representatives was removed from his post as a small number of fellow Republicans joined in an effort launched by Democrats to oust the leader of the House with a 216-210 vote.
For the first time in its 234-year history, the House backed a resolution "to vacate the office of the speaker" setting the stage for an unprecedented contest to replace Kevin McCarthy a year before the presidential election.
Representative Patrick McHenry from the Republican party — who is a close ally of the ousted leader of the house — was named as acting Speaker from a list designated by McCarthy and shared with the House clerk.
The Republicans who voted to oust fellow party member McCarthy were: Andy Biggs, Ken Buck, Tim Burchett, Eli Crane, Matt Gaetz, Bob Good, Nancy Mace and Matt Rosendale.
Trump said he was approached by Republicans to take the position and would offer his services until a longer-term replacement is found.
According to the House rules, a non-member can become a speaker however, his criminal indictments could avert him from becoming the leader of the House, as per GOP conference rules, which state that indicted leadership members with two-plus-year sentences “shall step aside.
An anonymous GOP lawmaker familiar with the matter told NBC News that Trump’s intention with the visit is to “unify the party,” while Trump said Wednesday his focus is on his presidential campaign.