Speaker hopefuls vie for GOP votes

WASHINGTON — The two leading candidates to become the next Republican speaker of the House worked the phones and halls of the Capitol on Thursday, vying for support from within their party’s fractured ranks as the chamber remained in a state of paralysis after the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Rep. Jim Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chair, had each landed more than a dozen endorsements by the afternoon as they raced toward a vote of Republicans tentatively scheduled for Tuesday. An election on the House floor could follow the next day, though the process could stretch much longer if no consensus can be reached.

Then early Friday, former President Donald Trump, whose far-right acolytes in Congress helped lead the rebellion that has plunged the House into chaos, weighed in.

“Congressman Jim Jordan has been a STAR long before making his very successful journey to Washington, D.C.,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social message that was posted at 12:13 a.m. Friday. “He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House, & has my Complete & Total Endorsement!”

Trump’s post does not mention Scalise, but Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas said on X, formerly Twitter, that he had spoken with Trump and the former president was indeed endorsing Jordan.

“I believe Congress should listen to the leader of our party,” Nehls added.

Scalise and Jordan are faced with the difficult challenge of attempting to unite a fractious Republican conference that is reeling after McCarthy’s removal from the speakership.

For Jordan, an Ohioan and co-founder of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, the task will be to convince more mainstream Republicans that he can govern and not simply tear things down.

For Scalise, a Louisianian who has won conference elections before as majority leader, the challenge will be to stay one step ahead of Jordan and make better inroads with the right wing of the party.