Republican House leadership crisis worsens after Scalise withdraws speaker candidacy – US politics live | US politics

New Jersey’s Democratic senator Cory Booker has joined Elizabeth Warren in her criticisms of the GOP-majority House, saying, “We are in crisis.”

Speaking to MSNBC, Booker said:

“This is a problem. We are in crisis right now in the country. We have important issues we should be dealing with, resolutely supporting the effort in Ukraine, resolutely standing with Israel, helping to aid in their defense and the protection of citizens, and the evacuation of Americans from Gaza to Israel, there are many important issues, not to mention funding the government.”

He went on to a “small group” of extremist Republicans who he said are “undermining the functioning of government.”

Massachusetts’s Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren has criticized the Republican-led House following days of political in-fighting as Republicans continue to struggle to decide on a speaker.

“The GOP House has nearly defaulted on the national debt, nearly shut down the government, & plunged itself into chaos by deposing a Speaker,” Warren tweeted on Friday.

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer to lead bipartisan visit to Israel

With Steve Scalise out of the picture for the House speakership, here is the Guardian’s Lois Beckett’s report on Republican reactions and what could and needs to happen next:

Scalise’s Thursday night announcement sent Republicans back to the drawing board, and some Republican members of Congress immediately started sparring on social media.

When Florida congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna tweeted out a list of potential candidates, after making headlines for changing her support for Scalise overnight, Georgia congressman Mike Collins responded: “We already did that,” and wrote that the real problem was that “it’s egos and TV time.”

“We’re a ship without a rudder right now,” freshman Missouri congressman Mark Alford told reporters Thursday night. “And I’m thoroughly disappointed in the process. And I just pray to God that we find something.

The House is entering its second week without a speaker and is essentially unable to function. The political pressure increasingly is on Republicans to reverse course, reassert majority control and govern.

Action is needed to fund the government before a potential federal shutdown in a month. Lawmakers also want Congress to deliver a strong statement of support for Israel in the war with Hamas, but a bipartisan resolution has been sidelined by the stalemate in the House. The White House is expected to soon ask for money for Israel, Ukraine and the backfill of the US weapons stockpile.

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House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries has called on Republicans to “get their act together and elect a speaker.”

Speaking to PBS in a new interview, the New York Democrat also called on “traditional Republicans to break with the extremists…and partner with Democrats on a bipartisan path forward.”

“We are ready, willing and able to do so. I know there are traditional Republicans who are good women and men who want to see government function but they are unable to do it within the ranks of their own conference which is dominated by the extremist wing,” he added.

Matt Gaetz, Florida’s Republican representative who led the motion to oust former House speaker Kevin McCarthy, appears to have thrown his support behind Jim Jordan.

In response an interview that former House speaker Paul Ryan gave in which he criticized Gaetz, Gaetz replied:

“Paul Ryan is a FAILED House Speaker who grew our deficit and debt. No wonder he has great empathy for Kevin McCarthy. It’s Jim Jordan Time!”

Gaetz is a hard-line Republican who moved to oust McCarthy after McCarthy worked alongside Democrats last month to pass a bipartisan bill that avoided a federal government shutdown at the eleventh hour.

In a separate tweet, Gaetz vowed to “get the most conservative Speaker of the House with broad trust across the conference.”

Good morning readers,

The House has been thrown into commotion once again after Louisiana’s Republican congressman Steve Scalise withdrew his bid for the chamber’s speakership on Thursday night.

Following closed-door meetings that lasted hours, Scalise announced his withdrawal, saying that the Republican majority “still has to come together and is not there.”

“There are still some people that have their own agendas,” he said, adding, “And I was very clear, we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs.”

The House, now in its second week of recess amid growing international crises, remains in a standstill paralyzed by Republican in-fighting. House Republicans are set to meet again at 10am today to figure out a speaker, Politico reports.

The focus is now on Ohio representative Jim Jordan, chair of the judiciary committee and co-founder of the right-wing Freedom Caucus. Earlier this week, Jordan, Scalise’s top contender, said that he would vote for Scalise, according to sources familiar with the matter. With Scalise now out of the picture, it remains uncertain whether Jordan will renew his speakership candidacy.

Democrats, including House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, have called on Republicans to “break from Maga extremists” and said that the a “bipartisan path forward is the only way out.”

Here are other developments:

• President Joe Biden is set to travel to Philadelphia this afternoon and deliver remarks about Bidenomics

• Cenk Uygur, founder of the Young Turks TV show, has announced his long-shot Democratic bid for the 2024 presidency

• New Jersey’s Democratic senator Bob Menendez is facing resignation calls after being charged with acting as a foreign agent of Egypt.

Stay tuned as we bring you the latest updates.