Rep. Jim Jordan Announces Bid for Speaker of the House, Calls for GOP Unity

In a surprise move, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio has declared his candidacy for speaker of the House following the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday. In a letter to his GOP colleagues on Wednesday, Jordan praised the work House Republicans have done so far this Congress and called for support.

Jordan, who is the chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, said he has received a lot of messages from fellow House Republicans asking him to run. He believes that support for his bid for the gavel is strong.

Jordan said the key priority for the next speaker is to unite the highly fractured GOP conference. He also lambasted federal spending and “blatant double standards in federal law enforcement,” a reference to the supposed persecution of former President Donald Trump.

Though Jordan is the first Republican to make it official, other lawmakers, most notably Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), have signaled they will also seek the speaker’s gavel. It remains to be seen who will ultimately be successful in their bid for the gavel.

The House Republican Conference is expected to meet on Thursday to discuss the election of a new speaker. It is unclear when the election will take place, but it is likely to be a contested race.