Jordan, the chairman of 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, giving reporters an emphatic “yes” when asked Wednesday whether he would seek to lead the chamber. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the House majority leader and another Trump supporter, also announced that he would run for speaker.
House Republicans are searching for a replacement to the first speaker voted out in U.S. history — a position second in line to the presidency — as McCarthy said he would not seek it again.
Becoming speaker requires a majority vote in the full House — and support from both the far-right and moderate factions of the fractured GOP, assuming no Democrats come on board.
Apart from Jordan and Scalise, Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), who leads the largest faction of conservatives as chairman of the Republican Study Committee, has said some Republicans have asked him to consider running for speaker and that he is weighing it. Several other Republicans have also not ruled out bids when the House returns next week.
Some House Republicans also have been calling on the former president to seek the post himself. Among them: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a former McCarthy ally. She said on social media earlier this week that Trump is “the only candidate for Speaker I am currently supporting.”
Trump told Fox News Digital in an interview Thursday that he would be open to accepting an interim role as speaker, but he said his focus is on the White House race.
“I will do it if necessary, should they not be able to make their decision,” Trump said in a posting on Truth Social.
House speakers are not required to be members of the chamber. But installing Trump, even temporarily, faces a steep hurdle: Under House rules, “a member of the Republican Leadership shall step aside if indicted for a felony for which a sentence of two or more years imprisonment may be imposed.”
Trump currently faces 91 felony charges across four criminal cases in federal and state courts. Some of the most serious charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Some Trump allies in the House have suggested they could change the rules to allow Trump to serve, but that would take a majority vote of the full chamber.
Jordan, who was elected to Congress in 2006, has steadily risen in the ranks of the Republican conference. He has used his perch as Judiciary Committee chairman, which he has held since January, to fight those who are investigating Trump.
He was one of eight House lawmakers who were part of Trump’s defense team in his first Senate impeachment trial. Trump, in one of his last acts as president, gave Jordan the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award.
A former chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, Jordan was first nominated for the speakership in January by far-right Republicans who opposed McCarthy, but Jordan steadfastly maintained his support for him.
Among those also in Jordan’s corner now: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who spearheaded the push to remove McCarthy from his leadership position. “My mentor Jim Jordan would be great!” Gaetz posted Tuesday on X, in response to a report that Jordan was entertaining a speaker’s bid.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), an ally of McCarthy’s with ties to the Freedom Caucus, and Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) also have expressed support for Jordan.
Amy B Wang, Colby Itkowitz, Marisa Iati, Marianna Sotomayor, Jacqueline Alemany, Maegan Vazquez and Mariana Alfaro contributed to this report.
