US House Republicans hope Johnson will fill long leadership vacancy

By David Morgan and Moira Warburton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. House of Representatives Republicans' leadership fight dragged into a 23rd day on Wednesday, with the narrow majority trying to unite around Representative Mike Johnson after ousting their leader and blocking three potential replacements.

The long standoff, started by a handful of party hardliners angry about a bipartisan deal that averted a partial government shutdown, has left the chamber unable to respond to the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, or to take action to keep federal agencies funded past Nov. 17.

The feuds within the fractious 221-212 Republican majority have eroded trust within the party, making it all the harder to unify around a successor to ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy, lawmakers said.

"There is not a lot of trust," Republican Representative Dusty Johnson, a moderate, told reporters. "It's a little hard to imagine how anyone can get elected at this point."

Lawmakers nonetheless planned to cast ballots for Johnson, a conservative from Louisiana who has billed himself as a "bridge builder," at noon EST (1600 GMT) on Wednesday, the week after hardliner Jim Jordan failed in three rounds of voting.

After winning a Tuesday night nominating vote, Johnson acknowledged the "messy" process but told reporters "this group is ready to govern."

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, who had also backed Jordan, on Wednesday urged fellow Republicans to unite around Johnson, writing on his social media website: "go with the leading candidate, Mike Johnson."

Even if Johnson wins Wednesday's vote with 217 votes from the 221-member Republican caucus, he will confront the same challenges that confounded McCarthy. They include the demands of the caucus' hardline members and the reality that with a Democratic majority in the Senate and Democratic President Joe Biden occupying the Oval Office, no laws can currently be passed in Washington without bipartisan support.

"The House GOP is mired in seemingly endless finger-pointing and competitions to take the most extreme positions imaginable," White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement. "It's in the best interest of the country – and House Republicans themselves – to get their act together."

PRIOR FAILURES

A small band of party hardliners led by Republican Representative Matt Gaetz engineered McCarthy's ouster on Oct. 3. As the chamber has limped along, leaderless, a number of Republicans have voiced frustration at the stalemate.

No. 3 House Republican Tom Emmer withdrew his bid on Tuesday amid opposition from party hardliners. He has a more moderate record than many other House Republicans. Unlike many in his party, he voted to certify Democratic President Joe Biden's 2020 victory over Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters.

Trump had urged Republicans to oppose Emmer after he won the nomination, and multiple Republican lawmakers said they voted against him because he did not support Trump's challenges to the election results.

Emmer was the third nominee to drop out after Jordan and Majority Leader Steve Scalise's bids were also spiked by party infighting.

Democrats have said they are open to a compromise candidate that would allow the chamber to function. Many Republicans have said on principle that they would not back somebody who had support from the opposition party.

The infighting has left the House unable to respond to Biden's $106 billion request for aid to Israel, Ukraine and U.S. border security. Congress will also have to act before a Nov. 17 deadline to fund the U.S. government and avert a partial shutdown.

The uncertainty has also helped to push up the U.S. government's borrowing costs. The government posted a record $1.7 trillion deficit for the most recent fiscal year, in part due to higher interest payments.

(Reporting by David Morgan and Moira Warburton, additional reporting by Richard Cowan, Makini Brice and Susan Heavey; Editing by Scott Malone, Stephen Coates and Jane Merriman)