On day 20 without a Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Republicans started again

on

Monday, they limped forward with few ideas about who will lead, what they’re fighting for and when they’ll get Congress moving again.

Nine lower-level Republican lawmakers have now filed to run to become speaker, leader of the House of Representatives and second in line for president. No one has a clear shot at the gavel. Many of them are appealing to Donald Trump for support, but he has little positive to say.

There is only one person who can do it completely: Jesus Christ,” he declared.

The oldest among the hopefuls is Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the former campaign chief who is now the Republican party. The gruff former hockey coach hates Trump, but the two had a polite phone call last weekend.

Speaking in Concord, N.H., on Monday, Trump downplayed and even ridiculed Emmer, the third-ranking House Republican. He presented himself as a kingmaker who talks to “a lot of members of Congress” looking for his stamp of approval.

“They were all calling for support,” said Trump, the Republican front

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participant in the 2024 presidential race who registered in New Hampshire for the state’s primary ballot.

About Emmer, Trump said: I think he’s my biggest fan now because he called me yesterday and told me I’m your biggest fan.

On Monday evening, House Republicans retreated behind closed doors, as they have most days since the impeachment of Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) to hear from the candidates ahead of the internal party vote.

McCarthy himself calls the whole spectacle embarrassing for the Republicans in the House of Representatives, whose majority is being wiped out, and for the American government, which cannot fully function.

What started as boastful bravado then became a contingent harsh

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Republicans led by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida who ousted McCarthy early this month have turned into a full-blown government crisis as dysfunctional and dangerous, a bitter infighting that is preventing the normal functioning of Congress.

The federal government risks another shutdown within weeks if Congress fails to pass funding legislation to keep services and offices running before the Nov. 17 deadline. And even more directly, Chairman

Joe

Biden has asked Congress to provide $105 billion in aid to Israel and Ukraine amid the overseas wars and to strengthen the U.S. border with Mexico. Without action, federal aviation and agriculture programs will expire.

Yet the power plays of the factions on Capitol Hill are stronger than any sense of urgency to resolve the impasse, as Republicans in the House of Representatives are essentially eating their own country first by impeaching McCarthy.

anus

only nine months in office, after which he rejects the next nominees to take his place, Majority Leader Steve Scalise

of Louisiana

and the hardline Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan

of Ohio

.

Launched so far

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Despite the many complaints about McCarthy’s leadership in the budget fight, the battle for the speakership is now a series of political and personal grievances about various leaders, factions and personalities.

“Is there anyone who can get there? I don’t think that’s the case,” said Rep. Troy Nehls

(

R-Texas

)

who has repeatedly suggested that Trump should be elected Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Trump himself has largely stayed in the background, but his presence is everywhere. Trump also spoke this weekend with would-be candidate Rep. Pete Sessions

(

R-Texas

)

, said a person who insisted on anonymity to discuss the private conversation. Early on, he helped secure Scalise’s nomination by endorsing Jordan instead.

But when more centrist Republican conservatives in the House of Representatives refused to support Jordan over concerns about elevating a far-right founder of the Freedom Caucus to chairman, Trump could not salvage the situation.

are Ohioans

lecture. Republicans in the House of Representatives dropped Jordan as their candidate late Friday.

The House of Representatives has never been here before. It has ousted its own chairman for the first time in history and is now led by a nominal interim chairman pro tempore Representative Patrick McHenry (RN.C.), the bow-tie-wearing chairman of the Financial Times. Services Committee whose main task now is to elect a more permanent chairman.

Some Republicans and Democrats would simply like to give McHenry more power to reconvene the House of Representatives and get on with the routine business of governing. But McHenry, the first person to find himself in the position created in the wake of the September 11, 2001, emergency terrorist attacks, has rejected those overtures.

In the Senate, Republican leader Mitch McConnell

of Kentucky

who is trying to guide the party through a tumultuous time has had little advice for his colleagues on the other side of the Capitol.

Look, I’m not an expert in this field. I have my hands full here in the Senate, McConnell told CBS on Sunday. We are going to do our work and hope that the House here can become operational soon.

For now, Emmer and the others will try to unite the fractured Republican majority around each of their candidacies. While there are potential leaders among those running for office, no figure stands out as an obvious choice.

Joining Emmer in seeking the nomination are Rep. Mike Johnson, an affable attorney from Louisiana, and Rep. Kevin Hern

of Oklahoma

a former McDonald’s restaurant franchise owner who now heads the conservative Republican Study Committee, the largest bloc of conservatives in the House of Representatives.

So his reps run. Byron Donalds, a newcomer from Florida who is aligning himself with Trump; Georgia’s Austin Scott, who had briefly challenged Jordan with a protest bid, and Sessions.

Others include representatives. Jack Bergman of Michigan, Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania and Gary Palmer of Alabama.

Internal party elections are scheduled for Tuesday, but with nine candidates it could take several rounds to choose a candidate ahead of a vote in the full House, possibly later this week.

In a desperate attempt to end the infighting, some Republican lawmakers are demanding that the candidates sign a pledge to support whoever is ultimately nominated, as Republican majority rules dictate.

Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota, who leads a group of mainstream conservatives, said he was looking for a speaker candidate who would be willing to risk his own political career to advance Republicans in the House of Representatives.

Whoever guides us through these difficult waters, which will be filled with shrapnel, may have to give up his own political career for the good of this country, he said.