A conservative House member who had promised to nominate former President Donald Trump to be the chamber’s new speaker says that the ex-president will endorse Rep. Jim Jordan for the post.
Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas has pushed Mr. Trump for when the House returned to the Capitol next week, but said he now backs Mr. Jordan.
“Just had a great conversation with President Trump about the Speaker’s race,” Mr. Nehls said on the social-media site X. “He is endorsing Jim Jordan, and I believe Congress should listen to the leader of our party. I fully support Jim Jordan for Speaker of the House.”
Mr. Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and founder of the House Freedom Caucus, has received a slew of endorsements from lawmakers since publicly confirming his bid to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California as speaker.
Mr. Nehl’s announcement comes after the former president had floated earlier in the day the idea of being speaker for a short stint.
“I have been asked to speak as a unifier because I have so many friends in Congress,” Mr. Trump told Fox News Digital. “If they don’t get the vote, they have asked me if I would consider taking the speakership until they get somebody longer term because I am running for president.”
“I’m not doing it because I want to,” Mr. Trump said. “I will do it if necessary, should they not be able to make their decision.”
Since Mr. McCarthy lost the gavel, the House has been in recess following an abrupt dismissal ordered by Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry of North Carolina.
Meanwhile, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia has remained firm in her stance that she hopes to see Mr. Trump with the gavel. Ms. Greene said on X that she intended to nominate the former president for the speaker’s race during the upcoming GOP conference meeting next week.
The Washington Times has reached out for comment from Ms. Greene on whether Mr. Nehls’ announcement of Mr. Trump’s endorsement of Mr. Jordan has swayed her.
Mr. Jordan is set to face off against House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, a popular figure in House leadership who has also earned numerous endorsements from lawmakers. Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma has also been floating a bid for the gavel, but has not publicly announced a formal candidacy.
Any lawmaker hoping to win the speaker’s gavel will need Mr. Trump’s support.
The frontrunner in the 2024 GOP presidential race has demonstrated outsized influence over the House Republican Conference, whether cheering for a government shutdown or prodding lawmakers to open an impeachment investigation of President Biden.
Source:Washington Times
