Rachel Maddow Hilariously Explains Possible Outcomes Of House Speaker Debacle

Here's a list of four things Maddow believes could happen next.

Have any idea what will happen in Washington, D.C., now that the plan for Republicans to select a new speaker of the House is in a total state of disarray? MSNBC's Rachel Maddow tried to clear things up on her show Thursday.

Maddow hilariously broke down a number of things that could possibly happen, following the shocking announcement by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) that he is no longer running to become speaker.

Here are four possible outcomes that Maddow believes could be in store.

Option 1: "Someone could become viable."

“Someone could become viable," she said. "The Republicans could reach deep into their souls and find a Kumbaya center they didn’t know they had … and therefore find someone from Congress who could get 218 votes.”

Maddow said Paul Ryan could be a possible option, given that both McCarthy and current House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) have reportedly lobbied him to run for the position. Ryan, however, has repeatedly said he does not want to be speaker.

Option 2: "They could find somebody that could do it ... who is not a Republican member of the House."

“They could find somebody to do it who could get 218 votes, who is not a Republican member of the House,” she said. “Technically, that is legal. It doesn’t have to be a member of Congress to be speaker, so it could just be anyone in the world.”

Maddow then began naming a list of people, and things for that matter, who she thought could gain the support of a majority of Republican voters.

“Who -- anybody in the world -- could a majority of Republicans come to agreement on?” she asked, before jokingly offering up her suggestions: “First lady Nancy Reagan, they could all agree on her right? Senator Ted Cruz, he has a lot of friends in the House. Maybe that guy from “Duck Dynasty”? They could all agree on a Chick-fil-A sandwich."

Option 3: "The ominous option"

The ominous option, according to Maddow, would be if House Republicans can’t agree on anybody to fill the role and Boehner resigns on schedule -- leaving the position vacant.

“There could just be no speaker,” she said. “That would mean no votes, no convening, no offices, no nothing. Nobody can do business, and Congress just closes.”

Option 4: "The most likely thing to happen"

Then there's the fourth option, which Maddow’s believes is the most likely outcome.

“Each of those three options seem impossible or impossibly catastrophic,” she said. “Which brings us to option four -- which is honestly the most likely thing to happen -- which is John Boehner is not allowed to quit.”

Watch Maddow explain these options in the video above.

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