Immediately after House members ousted then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy two weeks ago, power shifted to Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, who took over as acting speaker pro tempore, thanks to a private succession list that McCarthy submitted to the House clerk in January. But by any fair measure, McHenry’s authority was, and is, quite limited.

Indeed, as far as the House Financial Services Committee chairman is concerned, he effectively has one job: to preside over the election of the next House speaker.

But what if lawmakers decided to expand those powers? The New York Times reported:

The second failed effort on Wednesday by Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio to be elected House speaker added momentum to an idea that has been floated by lawmakers in both parties in recent days: Give Representative Patrick T. McHenry, the interim speaker, explicit power to conduct legislative business.

The proposal is relatively straightforward: Without a speaker, the House cannot conduct legislative business. Key priorities are piling up, none of which can be acted upon until one candidate has 217 votes.

But a growing number of members — most notably Rep. David Joyce of Ohio, among other Republicans — are warming to the idea of giving McHenry the power to actually conduct legislative affairs on a temporary basis. This would make it possible for the chamber to prevent a government shutdown, pass measures related to the Israel-Hamas war, etc.

Under the plan, McHenry wouldn’t keep the gavel indefinitely. His tenure would expire on Jan. 3, at which point members would be tasked, once again, with electing a speaker for the remainder of the current Congress.

So, why don’t members simply do this and start governing, at least for a couple of months? The first and most obvious problem is that McHenry has said, repeatedly, that he doesn’t actually want this gig.

What’s more, Jordan’s far-right allies have voiced strenuous opposition to this approach, because they believe — accurately — that it would make the Judiciary Committee chairman’s ascension even less likely.

Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, for example, said he’s “violently” opposed to any such effort.

All of which leads us to the other key element of the conversation: Democrats. The underlying idea has plenty of GOP backers, but they realize that they’re far short of a majority in the chamber. They’ll need plenty of votes from the House minority conference.

That’s not necessarily a problem — Democrats are ready to play a constructive role — but they’ll expect Republicans to give them something in return.

Watch this space.