Interim House Speaker Says Israel Aid Could Be Approved Before Replacement ‘If We Need’

Interim House Speaker Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., said on Tuesday it may be possible for Congress to move forward on aid to Israel before a new permanent House speaker is voted in.

Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Steve Scalise, R-La., have put their names forth as options to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who was ousted by eight House Republicans and all Democrats after Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., filed a motion to vacate him from the leadership post.

"If we need to act as a government, we will," McHenry told Politico on Tuesday about a timetable to vote on potential Israel aid as the country is responding to Hamas attacks over the weekend that claimed hundreds of civilian lives, including 11 Americans.

McHenry's comments follow House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who told reporters on Monday that voting on such aid can wait until a speaker is elected, citing billions in foreign military aid already available to the president.

McCaul echoed a point he'd made Sunday to CNN, saying being without a speaker during an international crisis is dangerous and "not ideal."