The mad dash to succeed House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan as the House GOP’s next speaker nominee is already well underway just hours after the Ohio Republican failed to secure the Speaker’s gavel in a third floor vote on Friday. Shortly after that floor vote, when 25 Republicans joined Democrats in opposing Jordan’s bid, the Ohio Republican then failed during a closed-door conference meeting to win a secret ballot vote to remain the party’s speaker-designate.
The list of Speaker hopefuls now includes Byron Donalds of Florida, Pete Sessions of Texas, Jack Bergman of Michigan, Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, and Austin Scott of Georgia. Others say they are making calls about a potential run, including House GOP Conference Vice Chair Mike Johnson and House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer is also making calls about a speaker run, and has already received McCarthy’s endorsement — what many aides and members are now describing to National Review as the kiss of death for the majority whip’s candidacy. What’s more, sources close to former President Donald Trump and conservative commentator Tucker Carlson are already telling the Messenger that they will work aggressively to doom Emmer, who also previously chaired the House GOP’s campaign arm.
One school of thought from some House GOP members and aides alike is that Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry — appointed as interim Speaker after McCarthy’s October 3 ouster — is doing McCarthy’s bidding by calling for a weekend recess and drawing the process out in hopes to exhaust everyone and have them turn to McCarthy again.
“This notion is simply false,” a McCarthy spokesperson tells National Review. “Speaker Pro Tem McHenry deferred to Speaker-designee Jordan at every stage on when to recess and reconvene the House. Meanwhile, Speaker McCarthy has asked not to be nominated and endorsed Jim Jordan, even giving the nominating speech on the floor today.”
Emmer endorsement aside, it’s very possible McCarthy will soon mount a comeback bid in the coming days or even weeks if no one emerges as a consensus candidate who can unite the conference and win the requisite 217 votes on the floor, depending on absences and “present” votes. But if he does, he’ll face an uphill battle winning over the eight Republicans who voted with Democrats to oust him earlier this month.
For now, the House GOP remains legislatively paralyzed without a speaker. Prospective candidates have until noon on Sunday to formally file their intent to run for Speaker, and the House GOP is currently slated to convene Monday evening on Capitol Hill for yet another candidate forum to elect a speaker designee. A speaker election will then occur on Tuesday morning, according to the current schedule.
“We’ve got to make a lot of phone calls this weekend and see what the issues are,” Kevin Hern told National Review moments after the closed-door conference vote to remove Jordan from consideration.
“People know me. I’m never gonna lie to you. I’m never gonna lie for you. I think simpler is better,” Austin Scott, who launched a failed bid against Jordan last week, told National Review of his newly announced bid. “We just got to keep pushing forward until we get through the next election.”