With the Republican House Conference suddenly calling a meeting for 7:30 p.m. ET Thursday, the House remains without a permanent Speaker for the ninth day, an administrative and public relations disaster. According to the Washington Post, Ohio Republican Max Miller is planning to bring a motion to the conference to grant Speaker pro tempore Patrick McHenry more powers to conduct the business of the House for up to two months.
Earlier in the day, some of Steve Scalise’s proxy promoted the idea that the “conference designee” for Speaker–based on his winning a vote over Jim Jordan–has been picking up supporters among the Jordan faithful, but at last tally, the unofficial count still had about a dozen Republicans standing firm against Scalise.