House Speaker’s Race: Jim Jordan v. Steve Scalise… And Maybe McCarthy Again

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, appears to be taking the lead in a two-way race to become the next House speaker after picking up a few more endorsements over the weekend and winning the blessing of Donald Trump last week.

"Jim Jordan is an honest man, true to his word and his values," South Carolina Republican Nancy Mace said on X in a glowing endorsement of Jordan for speaker. "He’s also a workhorse. He will put people ahead of petty Washington politics."

The speaker's race has become more urgent and the void created by the historic ouster of Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., last week, more dire after Hamas terrorists waged a surprise full-scale attack on Israel on Saturday, sparking an international crisis. Which is where McCarthy, a longtime backer of Israel, comes in.

"This is a time for strength. This is a time to stand together," McCarthy said Monday morning on Hugh Hewitt's radio show. "This is a time for assistance. And this is a time for Congress to speak as one voice."

McCarthy told Hewitt, his friend and GOP radio personality, that he'd be willing to take back the speaker's gavel in the event of a deadlocked speaker's race. "Look, whatever the conference wants, I will do," McCarthy said.

But he took aim at the eight Republicans, including Mace, who voted to oust him as speaker last week after he invited Democratic support to avert a government shutdown.

"We wouldn’t be paying our troops while we’re putting out a carrier strike fighter there," McCarthy said, referring to the deployment to Israel, adding that "30,000 American men and women in our armed services in the Middle East wouldn’t be being paid right now? I mean, what weakness would we be at?"

As of Monday morning, Jordan had at least 10 more committed votes than his rival for the top leadership post, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who served as McCarthy's deputy. McCarthy last week was ousted by a band of GOP renegades with the help of every House Democrat. He became the first House speaker in history to be vacated.

It remains unclear whether either Jordan or Scalise can secure the 217 votes that will be needed on the House floor to win. Republicans are set to vote amongst themselves on Wednesday on who should get the party's nomination for speaker, but whoever wins that internal contest will need the other's support to become speaker in a full vote on the House floor.

Besides Mace, other notable House lawmakers who have endorsed Jordan include House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner of Ohio, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green of Tennessee and House Freedom Caucus member Chip Roy of Texas.

Scalise has won endorsements from current House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, one of the most outspoken proponents of stronger border security.

Scalise, an old-school conservative who in the pre-Trump era served as chairman of the House Study Committee — the most conservative GOP caucus at the time — has run a campaign of personal appeal, reminding colleagues that he has literally bled for them.

“When I was shot in 2017, it was members of this conference who saved my life on that field,” he said in a letter to colleagues last week, referring to the 2017 incident when he was shot in the hip at a baseball field where Republicans were practicing for the upcoming annual congressional baseball game. Scalise almost died and spent over three months in the hospital.

Though Jordan and Scalise were elected to the House the same year — they are both serving their 9th term — Jordan tacked further right, becoming a staunch ally of Trump, who is mired in four different criminal indictments, including charges that he subverted democracy by trying to overturn the 2020 election results.

Trump has urged Jordan and other House Republicans to impeach President Joe Biden or "fade into oblivion."

Jordan has expressed unequivocal support for impeaching the current president who defeated Trump in 2020. And last week, after first teasing that he might run for speaker himself, Trump endorsed Jordan, saying the Ohio Republican would "be a great speaker."

Former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., one of just 10 Republicans who risked defeat to vote to impeach Trump for his role in the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the Capitol, has urged her former colleagues not to vote for Jordan.

“Jim Jordan knew more about what Donald Trump had planned for Jan. 6 than any other member of the House of Representatives,” Cheney said in a speech at the University of Minnesota on Thursday. “Jim Jordan was involved, was part of the conspiracy in which Donald Trump was engaged as he attempted to overturn the election.”

Jordan and Scalise have been publicly quiet on the impeachment front thus far in their speaker campaigns. Jordan, as the chairman of one of the three committees working on the impeachment probe of Biden, has aggressively pursued the investigation, arguing the Biden Justice Department meddled in federal investigations of the president's son, Hunter Biden, and Trump, his main political rival.

A source familiar with Jordan's thinking told The Messenger that the Ohio Republican plans to continue the polarizing impeachment investigation if he becomes speaker.

Scalise has also expressed support for the inquiry and spoken glowingly of the efforts of House investigators in the probe, calling their information they've uncovered against the Biden family "incredibly devastating."

Also hanging over the race is Scalise's health. Scalise, 58, was diagnosed with a treatable form of blood cancer earlier this year, and has said that he has begun chemotherapy and his doctors are "encouraged" by his progress.

His doctors have said he is more than healthy enough for this challenge, a source familiar with the plans said. He was originally expected to undergo six months of chemotherapy treatments but his treatment is expected to be shortened to just two more months given how well he has responded to treatment, the source said.

Approving more U.S. aid to Ukraine in its battle against a Russian invasion has now been overshadowed by the fresh conflict in Israel, after Hamas terrorists waged a surprise, full-scale assault against the Jewish state over the weekend, killing hundreds and taking an untold number of Israeli soldiers and civilians — including Americans — hostage.

Jordan told Fox News on Sunday that his "first move" as speaker would be to help Israel. Scalise also expressed strong support.

"The United States will always stand with Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East," Scalise said on X, formerly called Twitter. "They must defend themselves as their citizens are slaughtered by Hamas terrorists. They have our full support and our prayers."

Meanwhile, the House is "flying blind" — as Catholic University of America politics professor Matthew Green told The Messenger — stuck in legislative limbo until a new speaker is elected.