Jeana Moon/Pool/Reuters
Former President Donald Trump listens during his civil fraud trial at the State Supreme Court building in New York on October 4, 2023.
CNN
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Former President Donald Trump He endorsed Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan for speakership on Friday.
In a post on Truth Social just after midnight, Trump said Jordan “will be the best Speaker of the House and has my complete and total approval!”
After Trump meddled in the race, she has expressed openness to serving in the role temporarily, and has considered visiting Capitol Hill to speak with Republicans in the coming days, according to a source familiar with the discussions. A new speaker.
The former president is not expected to visit Capitol Hill, a person close to Trump said Thursday night. messenger First reported internal discussions of a possible trip.
Republicans are scheduled to hear from the speaker nominees next Tuesday, setting up a House-wide speaker vote on Wednesday, Oct. 11. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Jordan announced their candidatesAnd others could still enter the race, but it remains to be seen whether the conference can coalesce around a viable successor to McCarthy.
Meanwhile, the vacancy paralyzes the House.
Trump has been approached by GOP lawmakers in recent days who have expressed interest in serving as speaker, even on a temporary basis, a source familiar with the conversations said, and are “intrigued” by the idea.
“They asked me if I would take some time off for the party until they came to a decision – I’m not doing it because I want to – I’ll do it if they can’t. They have to make a decision,” Trump said Fox News Digital. Trump told Fox he was focusing on his presidential campaign, but said he would be willing to serve “a 30-, 60- or 90-day term.”
Trump told people with him this week that while he was “honored” and “honored” that people were raising his name, he wasn’t taking the idea too seriously, according to two people who spoke to him. Kevin McCarthy’s exit.
Trump is “fully focused” on running for president, two sources said, characterizing his public posture over talk that Trump might be elected speaker.
“Many people have called me about the Speaker. I can say we will do what is best for the country and the Republican Party,” Trump told reporters outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan on Wednesday during a break in his civil fraud trial.
Republican Reps. Troy Nehls of Texas and Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia have publicly stated their support for Trump.
If he runs, Trump will need to win a majority of existing and voting legislators, which will be difficult for a former president who is polarizing even among members of the GOP convention. Rep. Mike Lawler, a GOP freshman from a swing district in New York, told CNN earlier Thursday that he doesn’t see Trump’s role in the speaker race.
Asked by CNN’s Jim Ciuto if he would like the former president to come to the Capitol, Lawler said, “I think the speaker will choose someone who is currently a member of Congress, and I think these discussions should be among the members.”
Even if Trump is elected, it’s unclear whether he can get around House Republican convention rules that require any member convicted of felony charges punishable by two or more years in prison to step down. Those rules are self-executing and can be changed — but only after a Speaker is elected.
This article and story has been updated with additional information.
