House Dem leader: ‘Informal’ discussions underway on speakership mess

Talks of a possible bipartisan solution to the House Speaker standoff that has created chaos in the Republican caucus are underway, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday.

“There are informal conversations that have been underway. When we get back to Washington tomorrow, it's important to begin to formalize those discussions,” the New York Democrat said during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

When asked what House Democrats might be asking for a deal with House Republicans, Jeffries said his caucus wants "to ensure that votes are taken on bills that have substantial Democratic support and substantial Republican support so that the extremists aren't able to dictate the agenda."

The House has been without a permanent leader since former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted Oct. 3 by eight Republican hardliners who were angry with the California Republican’s leadership, including his decision to move a stopgap spending bill that averted a shutdown without imposing any of the spending cuts or conservative border policies that he'd vowed to push. (North Carolina Rep. Patrick McHenry is serving as speaker in the interim.)

House Republicans have so far been unable to coalesce around a replacement for McCarthy. On Friday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) was the second candidate to win his caucus’ nomination for the role, after Majority Leader Steve Scalise bowed out when it became clear he couldn’t earn enough support to win the necessary 217 votes on the floor.

Though Jordan won the nomination, more than 50 Republicans voted against him. If he hopes to win the gavel during a floor vote, he’ll need the support of almost his entire party.

As is customary, all 212 House Democrats have been voting for Jeffries, their leader, for the speakership job. But some centrist Democrats have signaled that they’d be open to making a deal with Republicans, though it’s unclear what that deal would look like.

The goal for Democrats, Jeffries said Sunday, is to ensure that “extremists" don't run everything.

“The current rules of the House have facilitated a handful of Republicans being able to determine what gets voted on in the House of Representatives and that undermines the interests of the American people. We can change the rules to facilitate bipartisanship and that should be the starting point of our conversation,” he said.