Plans for a televised debate involving candidates for House speaker were scrapped after the two announced contenders reportedly agreed that such an event “wouldn’t be wise.”
Fox News was reportedly planning to host a televised speaker debate between Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Steve Scalise of Louisiana on Monday night, according to Punch Bowl News. The event fell through after Jordan and Scalise spoke and agreed against participating in such an event.
Another source familiar tells me that Scalise and Jordan talked and agreed it wouldn’t be wise.
The forum is off. https://t.co/mRUBERyMnk
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) October 6, 2023
Scalise and Jordan announced their candidacies to be the next Speaker of the House soon after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was deposed on Tuesday. Oklahoma GOP Rep. Kevin Hern, the chair of the Republican Study Committee, has told members of the Texas delegation that he intends to run, according to one of those lawmakers, Rep. Michael McCaul. McCarthy has said he will not run for speaker again.
Hern had also been named as a potential debater, but issued a statement on social media Friday morning saying he would not take part. He also said he has yet to make a decision on whether to run.
“I still haven’t made a decision on my candidacy for speaker, but I know one thing for sure. I will not be participating in the televised debate,” Hern said. “We need to make this decision as a conference, not on TV. The Republican conference needs a family discussion.”
Neither of the announced candidates nor the likely competitor are close to securing the 218 votes needed to secure the speaker’s gavel. Roughly a quarter of the Republican conference has come out publicly backing a candidate, and Democratic votes are unlikely to support any Republican candidate.
A significant bloc of Republican lawmakers have pledged not to back any candidate unless House rules are changed that strengthen the next speaker’s hold over the gavel. A coalition of 45 GOP lawmakers say the next speaker must commit to changing the current rules around the motion to vacate the chair that allowed a single Republican, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, to bring the motion up for a vote. Gaetz led seven other Republicans and every Democratic member in voting to oust former Speaker McCarthy.
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It’s unclear how long picking another speaker of the House could take. McCarthy won the gavel after 15 grueling rounds of voting, and the Republican caucus currently is much more split on a successor than it was on McCarthy. The current situation also has no good historical analogue to guide predictions.
“It’s uncharted territory because we’ve never done that in the history of the United States,” Catholic University politics professor Matthew Green told CBS News.
Scalise is the head of the Republican conference as majority leader, though he is currently undergoing treatment for blood cancer, raising concerns about his health. Jordan, not currently a member of leadership, is well-liked by the Republican conference’s conservative wing, and Jordan received former President Donald Trump’s endorsement to be the next speaker on Thursday. Hern runs the largest Republican caucus as chair of the Study Committee.