Republican Rep. Jim Jordan confirmed his campaign for Speaker of the House to reporters on Thursday, Congress’ last day before the August recess.
The Daily Caller first reported that Mr. Jordan would be formally revealing his plan to run for speaker for the first time.
“Should the American people entrust us with the majority again in the 116th Congress, I plan to run for Speaker of the House to bring real change to the House of Representatives,” he said in a statement, “President Trump has taken bold action on behalf of the American people. Congress has not held up its end of the deal, but we can change that. It’s time to do what we said,”
He is the second Republican to throw his hat in the race this week.
The Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund announced its support for the House Freedom Caucus co-founder.
“For too long, the House of Representatives has been in need of new leadership — it has needed leadership as determined to drain the swamp as is President Trump,” Chairman Jenny Beth Martin said in a statement, “Rep. Jordan has been a solid, constitutional conservative warrior for years. Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund applauds Rep. Jim Jordan and knows he will be an excellent Speaker.”
Grassroots center FreedomWorks also celebrated the announcement.
FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon committed his organization to backing Mr. Jordan’s bid.
“Now, FreedomWorks plans to spend at least half-a-million dollars in an extensive campaign to elect a strong conservative, Rep. Jordan, the next Speaker of the House,” Mr. Brandon said.
Current Speaker of the House Paul D. Ryan weighed in on the latest update for his seat at his weekly news conference. Mr. Ryan said that Mr. Jordan did not reveal his plans to him before Thursday’s announcement.
“I’m not going to be here,” Mr. Ryan said, when asked if he supports Mr. Jordan. “I support Kevin McCarthy. Everybody knows that.”
On Wednesday, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California announced while speaking at a Turning Point USA event that he’s gunning for the top position.
“I want the next speaker to come from California, but I don’t want it to be Nancy,” he said, “I want it to be me.”
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana is also seen as a potential front-runner for the position, but said in the past that he would not run against Mr. McCarthy.
Mr. Jordan gained political clout for grilling Department of Justice and FBI officials over the delay in delivering documents to Congress. On Wednesday, he helped introduce articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
However, the Republican congressman recently came under fire after several of his former wrestlers at Ohio State University accused him of not adequately addressing accusations of sexual abuse.
Mr. Jordan and some of his defenders were suspicious of the allegations and suggested they were an effort to undermine his hearing with Mr. Rosenstein and his speaker campaign.
Mr. Ryan announced in April that he will retire at the end of this term.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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