Fox News Guest Speculates That Hakeem Jeffries Could Be Speaker ‘Sometime Between Now and January 3rd’
Wall Street Journal Editor-at-Large Gerald Baker suggested the shocking possibility that Democrats could retake the House of Representatives by the end of the year thanks to more Republican retirements.
On Tuesday, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) stunned his colleagues by announcing he will leave Congress on March 22. While Buck said in November he was retiring from the lower chamber, he gave no indication his departure would be so imminent. The lawmaker said he does not want to “lie on behalf” of former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
Baker appeared on Tuesday’s edition of Your World on Fox News to offer his thoughts.
“One, it makes life more complicated for Speaker Mike Johnson and the very, very wafer-thin Republican majority,” Baker said. “Two, it just absolutely emphasizes the complete Trumpification… the complete Trump takeover of the Republican Party. We’ve seen it with the RNC this week. The very last remaining critics of Donald Trump, the last remaining independent Republicans are bowing out because they see the handwriting on the wall.”
“They really can’t afford to lose anyone,” host Neil Cavuto replied. “It’s gonna be dicey through the end of the year.”
Baker responded by imagining a scenario in which more disaffected Republicans quit before their terms end in early January and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries becomes speaker:
I think the possibility of Speaker Hakeem Jeffries sometime between now and January 3rd next year is rising pretty rapidly ’cause there may well be more. You know, the handful of Republicans who really are holdouts against Trump, who really don’t have any time for him may decide to do exactly what Ken Buck’s done and say, you know, “I’m getting out first. A, I get a lot of attention, and B, I can do something quicker than hanging around, waiting for the axe to fall.”
And I think, yeah, as you said, we’re down to two or three. If we have any more shenanigans over government shutdowns or debt limits, all of this kind of stuff, you could well see Johnson’s position being vulnerable. And we’re really at the point where Jeffries, another couple of Republican defections or another couple of resignations like that or Republican gets sick or God forbid is unable to perform his or her duties, you could well– Jeffries could just about squeak a speaker vote.
“That’s amazing Cavuto,” replied. “But you’re right. The math is so close, it’s possible.”
Buck’s retirement will narrow Republicans’ majority to 218 to 213, with four vacancies in the House. Special elections have been scheduled to fill three of those: California’s 20th; Ohio’s 6th; and New York’s 26th. Only in the New York race is a Democrat expected to prevail.
Watch above via Fox News.
