President Joe Biden is not offering any advice for whoever becomes the next Speaker of the House.
After speaking about his latest round of student debt forgiveness on Wednesday, the president addressed the historic move to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
As he started to leave the room, a reporter asked, “What’s your advice to the next House speaker?”
Biden laughed and turned, then offered a five-word response as he said, “That’s above my pay grade.”
Watch the video below:
Reporter: "What's your advice to the next House speaker?"
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) October 4, 2023
Biden: "That's above my pay grade." pic.twitter.com/eew1vCaELe
At a separate point, Biden addressed the drama in the House as he said, “We need to change the poisonous atmosphere in Washington.”
He added, “We need to stop seeing each other as enemies. We need to talk to one another, listen to one another, and work with one another. And we can do that.”
"We need to change the poisonous atmosphere in Washington…We need to stop seeing each other as enemies. We need to talk to one another, listen to one another, work with one another," Pres. Biden says after Kevin McCarthy's ouster as House speaker. https://t.co/ibn6gW4kUf pic.twitter.com/PU8JdnavBW
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 4, 2023
On Tuesday, House members voted 216-210 to oust McCarthy.
Eight Republicans and 208 Democrats voted in favor of ending McCarthy’s speakership.
CNN’s Manu Raju noted Tuesday’s vote was the first time in 113 years the House voted to oust a speaker, and the first time in U.S. history the vote succeeded.
Earlier this week, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) announced his plan to file a motion to vacate the chair and end McCarthy’s speakership after he advanced a spending bill that relied on Democratic votes to pass.