As House goes into second weekend without new speaker, moderate House Democrats propose expanding temporary speaker's powers
CBSN
A small group of moderate Democrats called for the expansion of the power of Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry, as House Republicans take the weekend to see if their second speaker nominee in three days, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, can win over the dozens of lawmakers in his own party who are blocking his path to the speakership.
Four Democrats, all members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, wrote to McHenry to propose that until a speaker is elected, his authority should be temporarily increased to bring specific legislation to the House floor, according to the letter, which was obtained by CBS News.
Measures covering three areas would be allowed under their proposal: emergency foreign aid for Ukraine and Israel; an extension of the existing continuing resolution to fund the government through Jan. 11, in order to prevent a government shutdown; and committee work and consideration of individual spending bills.
