GOP Rep. Jim Jordan admits he never wanted to be speaker of the House

GOP Rep. Jim Jordan said Friday that the speaker’s race will not come down to his endorsement of Donald Trump but to who can “unite” warring factions within his party. The Ohio Republican, who chairs the powerful Judiciary Committee, is pitching himself as the best person to do just that. “I never wanted this job, somebody has to do it,” he told CNN.

He said the race will come down to: “who can unite the conference, who can unite conservative Republicans in our party and across the country, and who can tell the country what we’re doing and why it’s important to them.” “I appreciate the support of the president that he is the leader of the party, he will be our presidential candidate and I think he will be our next president. So I appreciate that, but we’re focused — the key is our colleagues — from the Freedom Caucus to the people in the middle to the committee chairs to Jeff Van Drew who was a Democrat four years ago.”

Jordan is locked in a race for the speaker’s gavel with the number two House Republican, Majority Leader Steve Scalise. Oklahoma Republican Rep. Kevin Hearn, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, is also expected to enter the race on Friday. Scalise also emphasized the need to unite the party. “The problems we have internally are not solved with the new President. But the real question that members have is how do we get things back on track?” he told Fox News.

Trump had toyed with the idea of ​​going to Capitol Hill on Tuesday as the GOP conference meets to discuss who is the best candidate to join and become speaker. It is not yet clear whether any candidate has the broad popularity needed to reach the 218 votes for speaker, as Republicans have only a four-vote majority. On Monday, the House ousted former President Kevin McCarthy when eight Republicans voted with all Democrats on an evacuation proposal by GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida.

Several Trump-aligned Republicans had nominated Trump for House speaker, and the former president said he was “open” to the gig temporarily before backing down and throwing his weight behind Jordan. Jordan “will be a WONDERFUL Speaker of the House and has my full and complete support!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He added: “Congressman Jim Jordan was a STAR long before he made his very successful trip to Washington, DC representing Ohio’s 4th Congressional District.”

Jordan is one of Trump’s biggest champions on the Hill and is leading investigations into prosecutors who have indicted the former president. Scalise has also worked closely with Trump over the years. House members have fired up support for both sides on X. Scalise has been in leadership for years and knows how it works. He is considered more conservative than McCarthy but more centrist than Jordan.

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