Jordan, who chairs the powerful House Judiciary Committee, has been a vocal Trump supporter. He became the first person this week to publicly share his plans to run for speaker, saying an emphatic “yes” when asked by reporters on Wednesday if he wanted to lead the chamber. House Majority Leader and another Trump supporter, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), has announced that he will run for Speaker.
House Republicans are searching for a replacement for the first speaker in U.S. history to vote — second only to the presidency — after McCarthy said he would not seek it again.
Becoming speaker requires a majority vote in the entire House — and support from far-right and moderate wings of the fractured GOP, assuming no Democrats turn up.
Aside from Jordan and Scalise, the representative who leads the largest faction of conservatives as chairman of the Republican Study Group. Kevin Hearn (R-Okla.), said some Republicans have asked him to consider a run for speaker, and he is weighing it. . Several other Republicans have not ruled out a bid when the House returns next week.
Some House Republicans have also called on the former president to run for office himself. Among them: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R-Ga.), a former McCarthy ally. Earlier this week he took to social media to say, “Trump is the only speaker candidate I’m supporting right now.”
Trump said Fox News Digital in an interview Thursday He said he was willing to take on the interim role as speaker, but was focused on the race for the White House.
“I will do it if necessary, if they can’t make up their mind,” Trump said.
Speakers of the House need not be members of the chamber. But installing Trump, even temporarily, faces a hurdle: Under House Republican rules, “a leading member of the Republican Party could be sentenced to two or more years in prison if convicted.”
Trump currently faces 91 felony charges in four criminal cases in federal and state courts. Some serious charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Some Trump allies in the House have suggested changing the rules to allow Trump to serve.
Elected to Congress in 2006, Jordan has steadily risen through the ranks of the Republican convention. He has used his position as Judiciary Committee chairman, a position he has held since January, to fight those investigating Trump.
He was one of eight House lawmakers who were part of Trump’s defense team in his first Senate impeachment hearing. Trump, in one of his last acts as president, presented Jordan with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award.
Jordan, a former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, was first nominated for speaker in January by far-right Republicans who opposed McCarthy, but Jordan remained steadfast in his support.
Among those now in Jordan’s corner: Rep. Matt Gates (R-Fla.), who led the push to remove McCarthy from his leadership post. “My mentor Jim Jordan will be great!” Gates Published on Tuesday at XIn response to a report that Jordan was entertaining a speaker’s attempt.
Rep. Thomas Massey (R-Ky.), a McCarthy ally with ties to the Freedom Caucus, and Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) have also expressed support for Jordan.
Amy B Wang, Colby Itkowitz, Marisa Iati, Marianna Sotomayor, Jacqueline Alemany, Maegan Vazquez and Marana Alfaro contributed to this report.
