“Chairman Hensarling is considering his options, and I expect he will have a decision by early next week,” his spokeswoman, Sarah Rozier, said Friday.
Current House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, meanwhile, wasted little time. On Friday evening, Scalise held a conference call with his whip team to let them know that he is running for majority leader if McCarthy becomes Speaker, according to a source with knowledge of the call. And Republicans said Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers is also making calls about the majority leader position.
Meanwhile, other upstart members are looking to inject a fresh face into leadership. Rep. Peter Roskam, McCarthy’s former chief deputy whip, who notably bucked leadership on the Iran deal this month, is said to be considering a run for a leadership position, though it is unclear which one. He said in a statement that maintaining the same team would do little to put an end to the infighting that has marred the conference in the past.
"I'm for somebody who can bridge the divide in our Conference,” Roskam said. “If we don't have a plan to get us out of this dysfunction, reshuffling the deck won't make anything better. I'm going to work hard to make sure we get the leadership we need, not just settle on the fastest, easiest choice."
The far-right House Freedom Caucus has been actively angling to insert one of their own into the discussion, and are looking to vote as a bloc in order to cut a deal with whomever they agree to support. They met Friday afternoon after Boehner’s announcement.
“I wouldn’t be at all surprised that some in our caucus would be running,” HFC member John Fleming said. “And the Freedom Caucus will kind of work together to have more weight in the vote.”
Still, others said the group could set its sights lower, perhaps angling for rules changes.
"I don’t think that the conservative wing of the party has enough mass to get one of our own to get elected. We certainly have enough mass to influence the outcome,” Rep. Mick Mulvaney, an HFC member, said.
Finally, a few retiring members are said to be considering a run for the speakership, if only to hold on to the gavel as a placeholder until 2017. “You've got Candice [Miller] and John [Kline] and different ones that are retiring," Rep. Marsha Blackburn said. "So I heard that out there. I've heard different ones running, so we'll see."
“A number of members have approached her on this idea,” a GOP aide familiar with the discussions said of Miller.
The latter idea is borne of the fact that with Boehner resigning mid-term, only his leadership slot is up for grabs. If McCarthy runs and wins, that creates a vacancy at the Majority Leader position. If not, the rest of the leadership table could remain in place, at least until the next Congress, when leadership elections would take place across-the-board.