‘Whoever The House Speaker Is, I’m Going To Try To Work With’ : President Biden

US President Joe Biden on Friday pledged to work with whoever replaces the recently ousted Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker, but acknowledged some candidates for the job would be easier to work with than others.

Biden was asked about former President Donald Trump endorsing Rep Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) in the House Speaker race as Republicans debate on who could round up enough votes to ascend to one of the most powerful positions in government, second in line to the presidency.

Earlier this week, McCarthy was abruptly removed from his position, just days after he worked with House Democrats to pass a stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown. His removal came after 8 Republicans joined Democrats in voting to oust the former House Speaker.

White House Avoids Weighing In On Whether It Has A Favourite

“Look, whoever the House Speaker is, I’m going to try to work with. They control half the Congress,” Biden mentioned, but noted: “Some people I imagine it’s going to be easier to work with than others, but whoever the Speaker is, I’m going to try to work with.”

The White House has avoided weighing in on whether it has a preferred candidate. Meanwhile, government funding will run out in November without additional congressional action and the lack of a Speaker in the meantime will shorten the window for passing funding bills.”

US Aid In Limelight As Bill Cuts Out Assistance For Kyiv

Additionally, McCarthy’s removal has added further uncertainty to the outlook for US aid to Ukraine, amid a pressing need to shore up support for the Kyiv government. The short-term bill passed recently carried a catch – as it would cut out assistance for Ukrainians.

Washington has backed Kyiv with at least $113 billion in aid since Russian forces marched into the country in February last year. But with support for Ukraine excluded from the stopgap bill, President Biden was left to rely on the former House Speaker for a separate deal.

However, McCarthy has denied accusations by Republican Matt Gaetz, who led the push to remove him from the key position, that he had cut a “secret deal” with Biden to allow the House to vote on US aid to the war-ravaged nation.