Jordan wants to be speaker of House

WASHINGTON — Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, a powerful hard-line conservative who has been embroiled in a scandal from his days as a college wrestling coach, announced Thursday that he will run to succeed Paul Ryan as House speaker. Congressional Republicans ‘‘have given the American people a reason to question our commitment to reform,’’ Jordan wrote in a letter to his Republican colleagues announcing his bid.

‘‘Should the American people entrust us with the majority again in the 116th Congress, our clear mandate will be to continue working with President Trump to keep the promises we made,’’ Jordan said.

Jordan’s announcement is sure to roil the already shaky succession of power that Ryan set in motion when he announced he would retire at the end of the year. Publicly, Republican leaders have backed the House majority leader, Kevin McCarthy of California. Privately, some Republicans have said McCarthy would not have the votes, and the No. 3 Republican in the House, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, is waiting in the wings.

And now comes the divisive figure of Jordan, who has the backing of the small-butimportant House Freedom Caucus, which he helped found, and outside conservative groups that have been pushing him to run. He has divided Republicans repeatedly with his tactics, most recently this week by filing articles of impeachment against the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein.

He is not likely to muster a majority of the House Republican Conference. And Republicans may well not control the House next year. Jordan