[Source.](https://justthenews.com/government/gingrich-tells-house-gop-conference-empower-mchenry-run-chamber-if-it-cannot-elect) > Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich says the House Republican Conference may be better off to "empower" placeholder Speaker Patrick McHenry to run the chamber if members cannot elect a permanent one in the next few days. The conference has tried for over two weeks to elect a speaker – after several members effectively voted California Rep. Kevin McCarthy out of the post. Most recently, Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan failed to get enough "yeses" on a House floor vote Tuesday and is set to try again Wednesday, amid challenging odds. > Gingrich on Tuesday made the suggestion, which seems to suggest keeping McHenry, a North Carolina Republican, in his speaker pro tempore post, not electing him. > "America does not have the luxury to stand by and allow a handful of destructive Republicans – or even the legitimate ambitions of good people – to keep the system from working," Gingrich says about GOP members who apparently either ousted McCarthy and-or who have blocked efforts to elect a new speaker who doesn't align with their political ideology, which is largely far right.