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“And buy a decent suit! You can’t come in here looking like this!”
Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on Wednesday became the first lawmaker to announce a bid for speaker of the House, one day after Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the top job in a historic vote.
Asked by reporters in the Capitol if he was running, Jordan replied unequivocally: “Yes.”
“We need to unite the conference,” said Jordan, who had just met with Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., a likely rival for speaker, to inform him of his decision.
Jordan said he made his decision after many of his GOP colleagues reached out, urging him to run. A source familiar with Jordan’s thinking said the congressman has repeatedly said that choosing the next speaker “will be a decision for the conference” and now the conference is asking.
Jordan “highly respects Scalise and other candidates running,” the source added.
The Republican Party in 2023 is a machine in which every joke writes itself, but the final outcome is always very far from funny.
Jim Jordan's detractors say his involvement with a sex abuse scandal at Ohio State should disqualify the Congressman from holding GOP leadership positions. His supporters say he could be a fine Speaker in the mold of Dennis Hastert.— New York Times Pitchbot (@DougJBalloon) October 4, 2023