The race to replace ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy took shape yesterday as Steve Scalise, the chamber’s No 2 Republican, and Jim Jordan, a leading antagonist of Democratic President Joe Biden, said they would seek the post.
The two lawmakers could be joined by several other candidates in what could be a lengthy and likely messy battle to fill the post in the House where Republicans hold a majority.
Republican lawmakers emerging from a private meeting mainly named the two as leading candidates.
Tuesday’s historic removal of McCarthy, driven by a rebellious faction of Republicans, marked the first time the chamber has removed its leader from a position that is second in line to the president after the vice-president.
Republicans have set an Oct 11 vote to choose a successor and are due to meet the day before to hear from their candidates.
The leadership fight is eating into the time lawmakers have to extend government spending before it expires on Nov 18 and update farm-subsidy and nutrition programmes, among other tasks.
Scalise, who has been getting treatment for cancer, has long been considered McCarthy’s heir apparent and has been meeting privately with Republicans to build support for his bid. He is seen as more conservative than McCarthy. He was critically wounded in 2017 when a man who had criticised Republicans on social media shot him and other party lawmakers as they were practising for a baseball game.
“We all need to come together and pull in the same direction to get the country back on the right track,” he wrote in a letter to Republicans.
Jordan, 59, a former college wrestler who has led investigations of the Biden administration, first gained prominence as a leader of the party’s right wing before eventually forming an alliance with McCarthy. He is known for eschewing suit jackets and is a vocal supporter of former president Donald Trump.
As chair of the Judiciary Committee, he is involved in the impeachment investigation into Biden and has tangled with state prosecutors who have filed criminal cases against Trump.
Jordan highlighted his leading role in a bill that would dramatically tighten immigration, calling it “the most significant legislation this Congress.” That bill has passed the House but gotten nowhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
“We can focus on the changes that improve the country and unite us in offering real solutions. But no matter what we do, we must do it together as a conference,” he wrote to Republicans.
Representative Kevin Hern, who leads a policy group for conservative lawmakers, also said he was considering a speakership bid.
“I think we need to be pointing our guns outward, not at each other,” he told reporters.
Representative Patrick McHenry is temporarily serving as speaker following McCarthy’s removal.
McCarthy’s ouster is the latest factor causing Wall Street to worry about US political governance, following the near-miss with a partial federal government shutdown this weekend and congressional Republicans’ flirtation with defaulting on the government’s $31.4tn in debt earlier this year.
Those concerns, alongside worries about interest rates, have played a role in a sustained sell-off in government bonds.