Jim Jordan First to Formally Announce Bid for Speaker

WASHINGTON — Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has formally entered the race to be the next House speaker.

Jordan began circulating a letter to his Republican colleagues, seeking their support for his bid, shortly after confirming to reporters gathered outside the speaker’s office in the Capitol, that he was entering the race.

He also said that he had spoken to Steve Scalise, R-La., who is currently majority leader and is also expected to announce a bid for the speakership.

Jordan’s announcement comes in the wake of a historic day on Capitol Hill which ended with the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., by a vote of 216 to 210.

The vote left the chamber paralyzed, unable to do any legislating whatsoever. Though Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., has been named interim speaker, the designation does not give him any power to actually run the chamber, nor does it put him in the line of succession for the speakership.

All it allows McHenry to do is preside over the election of a new speaker, which is expected to occur next week.

House Republicans are slated to hear from speaker candidates at a forum next Tuesday, setting up the next possible House-wide speaker vote next Wednesday, Oct. 11.

In his letter to his Republican colleagues, Jordan strikes an alarmist tone, blaming “far-left policies” for “destroying our communities, our security, and our future.”

“We have soaring crime across the country. We have an administration with open-border policies that have caused chaos and left our country vulnerable,” he continues. “We’ve seen federal agencies turn on the American people — silencing speech online, targeting parents at school board meetings and flagging pro-life Catholics as potential threats — and we’ve witnessed blatant double standards in federal law enforcement. 

“We continue to spend too much money and Americans are suffering under President Biden’s economy,” Jordan says, adding, “The Republican majority must continue to address the issues that matter to the American people.

“We agreed at the beginning of the Congress that there are three fundamental things the House must do: pass the bills that need to be passed, do the oversight, and rein in the spending,” Jordan continued.

“We are at a critical crossroad in our nation’s history. Now is the time for our Republican conference to come together to keep our promises to Americans. The problems we face are challenging, but they are not insurmountable. We can focus on the changes that improve the country and unite us in offering real solutions. But no matter what we do, we must do it together as a conference,” he concludes.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue