Rep. Patrick McHenry is closing out two decades in Congress by returning to the bomb-throwing days of his youth. His new target is House Speaker Mike Johnson, and it’s starting to rattle fellow conservatives.

McHenry, the bow-tied North Carolina Republican who plans to retire at the end of this session, has been ratcheting up his criticism of Johnson in recent weeks over what he views as a serial mishandling of big issues before the House, including government funding, the border and Ukraine aid.

It’s a prospect so enticing that some executives have been afraid to jinx it on the record: Wall Street’s most trusted Republican might run the U.S. House.

Rep. Patrick McHenry — the temporary speaker who may be tapped to be more than just a caretaker — is one of the House GOP’s top liaisons with the business community, thanks to his long-time leadership role at the Financial Services Committee.

House Republicans shelved a proposal to install Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick T. McHenry in a more official role possibly through December just hours after the speaker-designate, Rep. Jim Jordan, gave it his blessing on Thursday.

Facing an increasingly imperiled bid to become speaker due to lack of support within the conference, Jordan had told House Republicans on Thursday morning that he would instead support expanding McHenry’s authority to get the chamber functioning again temporarily.

House Republicans are abandoning a push to empower a temporary speaker, Rep. Patrick McHenry, after it faced fierce pushback within the party on Thursday.

As they left a nearly four-hour internal meeting about the idea, multiple Republicans said there was no virtually no path forward. The proposal, which may still come back for a vote at some point, would have allowed McHenry and the GOP to reopen the House after 16 days without a speaker.

The House will hold a vote for speaker later Thursday to give Republican nominee Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio a third shot at the gavel as he struggles to convince nearly two dozen holdouts to back him.

The stalemate, now in its third week, has empowered Democrats in the minority to ambitiously eye a deal to elect a speaker with some frustrated Republicans who would give them more power and perhaps an equal say over the agenda.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) will tell members of the House Republican Conference that he will not hold a third ballot and instead will back expanding the powers of Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-NC) so the House can get back to regular order.

Jordan will announce he plans to stay on as speaker designate and that he supports expanding McHenry's powers through January, according to two GOP sources.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is gaining momentum as he tries to lock down support for the Speakership, but opposition remains.

Jordan scored key pickups on Monday when four Republicans who had previously publicly opposed him flipped their votes: House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (Ala.) along with Reps. Ann Wagner (Mo.), Ken Calvert (Calif.) and Vern Buchanan (Fla.). 

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is gaining momentum as he tries to lock down support for the Speakership, but opposition remains.

Jordan scored key pickups on Monday when four Republicans who had previously publicly opposed him flipped their votes: House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (Ala.) along with Reps. Ann Wagner (Mo.), Ken Calvert (Calif.) and Vern Buchanan (Fla.).