Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman floats George W. Bush for House speaker

Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., floated the idea of electing former President George W. Bush to serve as House speaker, with a vote on the position scheduled Wednesday as Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, works to secure the position.

"He could come back," Sherman told Forbes Newsroom about the possibility of voting for the former president to be speaker. "Obviously, I'm not a real fan of how the Iraq War went, but I would think that any reasonable Republican would be somebody that Democrats could work with — if it was part of a system where you didn’t have five of the most extreme Republicans blocking important legislation and saying, 'If you bring that to the floor for a vote, we’ll knock you out of your Speakership.'"

Bush is not a member of the House, nor has he served in the legislative body, but that does not disqualify him from serving as speaker. There have even been discussions of nominating Trump for the position.

Sherman slammed Jordan, who is the Republican Conference's pick, as being "among one of the worst Speakers that we could have," but said Jordan could be useful for Democrats because he is a "disaster."

The House has not had a speaker since Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted from the position in a vote led by conservative Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise withdrew from the race last week, opening up the opportunity for Jordan to run for the position.

Follow Madeleine Hubbard on X or Instagram.