Amid House speaker vacancy, many in GOP want to do away with motion to vacate

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urged House Republicans to do away with the motion to vacate, contending it "makes the Speakers' job impossible."

Many Republicans ABC News talked to on the House side agree with him. For some, it's a major factor in who they will support for speaker.

Rep. David Joyce, R-Ohio, said he'll back "the first one who starts talking about the fact we're not going to have a stupid rule anymore that allows one person to take a speaker out. That's ridiculous."

"It absolutely has to change," he added, noting if it doesn't, the GOP could find itself right back in this same position.

Even Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, one of the eight Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy, says he's OK with changing the rule from a one-vote threshold back to a five-vote threshold to vacate.

"I'm fine with a five vote. If you can't get five Republicans to say the speaker should be vacated, then live with it. But I don't think the rules are the problem. I think the credibility of the former speaker was the real problem," he said.

-ABC's Mary Bruce

In remarks about the speakership showdown, Biden said there is a "lot of work" to get done as Congress faces a Nov. 17 deadline to come to a funding deal or once again risk a shutdown.

"We cannot and should not again be faced with an 11th-hour decision, brinksmanship that threatens to shut down the government," Biden said.

He also expressed concern on the current state of future aid for Ukraine, admitting he's worried it may not happen.

"It does worry me," he said. "But I know there are a majority of members of the House and Senate in both parties who have said that they support funding Ukraine."

At least one lawmaker vying for speaker has long been opposed to additional Ukraine aid.

"I'm against that," Rep. Jim Jordan told reporters on Wednesday. "What I understand is at some point we're going to have to deal with this appropriation process in the right way and we're going to try to do that in the next -- what are we down to? Forty-one days. The most pressing issue on the mind of Americans is not Ukraine, it is the border situation."

-ABC's Molly Nagle, Justin Gomez and Mary Bruce

Scalise made his case for why he should be the next House speaker in a letter to colleagues on Wednesday.

In it, he called the Republican conference a "family" as he recounted the support he received when he was shot during congressional baseball practice in 2017 and suffered life-threatening injuries.

"God already gave me another chance at life," he wrote. "I believe we were all put here for a purpose. This next chapter won't be easy, but I know what it takes to fight and I am prepared for the battles that lie ahead."

President Joe Biden weighed in for the first time on the ouster of McCarthy, calling on Congress to change the "poisonous atmosphere in Washington" and come together.

"More than anything we need to change the poisonous atmosphere in Washington. You know, we have strong disagreements, but we need to stop seeing each other as enemies. We need to talk to one another, listen to one another, work with one another. And we can do that," Biden urged while delivering remarks on student loans at the White House.

Biden said the GOP will need to "reorganize" and that it might "take some time" to select a new leader.

-ABC's Justin Gomez and Molly Nagle