Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat from California, floated the idea of former President George W. Bush taking on the role of House speaker on Monday, offering it as a compromise to bridge the political divide in the closely divided House, Forbes reported.
Sherman, while acknowledging his reservations about Bush’s handling of the Iraq War, emphasized that having a “reasonable Republican” as speaker could be an avenue for bipartisan cooperation, the outlet noted.
“He could come back,” Sherman said on Forbes Newsroom. “Obviously, I’m not a real fan of how the Iraq War went, but I would think that any reasonable Republican would be somebody that Democrats could work with — if it was part of a system where you didn’t have five of the most extreme Republicans blocking important legislation and saying, ‘If you bring that to the floor for a vote, we’ll knock you out of your Speakership.’”
#BREAKING: House Democratic Lawmaker Floats George W. Bush For Speaker Of The House https://t.co/x8Eo27CHoh pic.twitter.com/6dpAmzsbu8
— Forbes (@Forbes) October 16, 2023
Bush is not a current member of the House, but that does not disqualify him from the position, the outlet noted. There have also been discussions within the Republican party about former President Donald Trump taking up the role of House speaker. (RELATED: GOP Rep. Austin Scott Files Challenge To Jim Jordan For House Speaker)
With a slim Republican majority, any speaker would face a challenging task in maintaining control. However, Sherman suggested that Bush could potentially rally enough support from Democrats to prevent the obstruction of critical legislation. He expressed concern and said that one of these “extreme Republicans,” like Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the GOP conference’s current choice, would be “among one of the worst Speakers that we could have.”
Sherman went so far as to claim that a Jordan as speaker would be a “disaster,” to the point that it might inadvertently benefit Democrats politically.