Trump Endorses Jim Jordan to Succeed McCarthy as House Speaker

Early Friday, Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social site that Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio had his "Complete & Total Endorsement" to become the next speaker of the House. He called Jordan a "STAR" long before the congressman reached Washington to represent Ohio's 4th District, and said he would be a "GREAT Speaker." The post made official what had been spreading for hours.

The news had first come from Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas, who wrote on X late Thursday that he'd had a great conversation with Trump about the speaker's race and that Trump was endorsing Jordan. Nehls added that Congress should listen to the leader of the party. Two Republicans close to the situation, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Trump had been telling people he preferred Jordan. It was unclear, according to the report, whether Trump had meant to announce it before Nehls did.

Nehls had been among the first lawmakers to promote Trump himself for the job, and he told the Associated Press the former president had thought it over and decided to back Jordan. "He believes Jim Jordan is right for the job," Nehls said. He added that if no candidate can assemble enough votes, he would turn to Trump again. "Our conference is divided. Our country is broken," he said, adding that he didn't know who could win.

The vacancy exists because Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield was removed as speaker. Trump had helped him win the gavel in January after 15 rounds of voting, but later urged Republicans to impeach President Biden and to reject deals McCarthy negotiated. Last month he pushed the party's right flank to back a government shutdown unless Republicans won deep spending cuts, writing that Biden would be blamed. McCarthy instead moved to keep the government open for 45 days without those cuts. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, a longtime Trump ally, cited that decision in moving to depose him.

Jordan is one of two leading candidates, the other being Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who has also worked closely with Trump over the years. It is unclear whether the endorsement will push Scalise out, or whether either man can win enough support from the caucus's far-right and moderate factions. Jordan chairs the House Judiciary Committee, has led investigations into prosecutors who have charged Trump, and was among the Republicans who worked with Trump to overturn his 2020 defeat.

Trump, meanwhile, kept alive the idea of serving himself. He told Fox News Digital on Thursday he would take the speakership for 30 to 90 days if another candidate lacked the votes, saying he had been asked to act as a unifier and noting he is running for president. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who did not vote to remove McCarthy, wrote on X that she believed he would take the job. The speaker runs the Capitol and deals with hundreds of lawmakers, and the work demands attention to legislative detail that Trump has shown little interest in. No rule requires the speaker to be a House member, though all 55 elected so far have been.

Trump had planned to visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday, confirming this to Fox News Digital, ahead of a vote that could come as soon as Wednesday. It would be his first trip to the Capitol since leaving office and since his supporters attacked it on Jan. 6, 2021. He has been indicted in Washington, D.C., and Georgia over efforts to overturn the election. Nehls now says the trip is unlikely given the Jordan endorsement. What to watch is whether Scalise stays in and whether either man can reach a majority by midweek.