Most approve of bipartisan majority running House: Survey

Most voters approve of moderate Republicans working with Democrats to form a bipartisan majority to run the House, according to a new survey.

A YouGov Blue poll found 63 percent of voters say moderate Republicans should work with Democrats to form a bipartisan governing coalition, while 37 percent said moderate Republicans should only work with GOP colleagues to elect a Speaker.

Support largely split along party lines, with 93 percent of Democrats saying that moderate Republicans should work on a bipartisan solution, and 70 percent of Republicans saying the House GOP should sort out the Speaker pick themselves. 

Likewise, 30 percent of Republicans said moderate GOP members should work with Democrats for a bipartisan coalition, according to the poll, which was commissioned by the Democratic group The Welcome Party.

The survey was conducted among 1,186 voters Oct. 11-13 as Republicans scrambled to put forward new Speaker nominees. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

The survey comes as the House approaches two weeks without a Speaker after eight Republicans sided with Democrats to oust Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from the position. House Republicans have since been in disarray as they struggle to find a Speaker nominee who can secure enough floor votes.

Their first Speaker nominee, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), dropped out as dozens of Republicans resisted supporting him. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) won the GOP’s second Speakership nod in a 124-81 vote Friday, but when asked if they would support Jordan’s nomination on the floor, the GOP conference vote was 152-55 — well short of the necessary 217 votes on the floor.

House Republicans are planning on holding a vote on the House floor Tuesday, though it is unclear how many holdouts Jordan will win over ahead of that vote.

In the last House floor votes for Speaker in January, McCarthy won the gavel after 15 rounds of voting, eventually overcoming opposition from a small group of Republicans.

Some members of Congress have floated a bipartisan solution for the Speakership as questions begin to swirl over whether Congress can avoid a government shutdown in the coming weeks and whether it can approve more aid to Israel in its ongoing war with militant group Hamas.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Sunday that there are “informal conversations” taking place for a bipartisan governing coalition. When asked why the formal conversations have not happened yet, Jeffries said it is up to the House Republicans.

“We have made clear, publicly and privately, that we are ready, willing and able to enter into a bipartisan governing coalition that puts the American people first and solves problems for hardworking American taxpayers,” he said.

Republican Rep. Mike Turner (Ohio) also suggested Sunday that if House Republicans cannot elect a Speaker soon, a “deal will have to be done” with Democrats in order to get the chamber running again.