Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) predicted Sunday that Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) will reach the votes needed to clinch the Speakership as the House closes in on nearly two weeks without a leader.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) spearheaded the effort to oust McCarthy nearly two weeks ago. Since then, House Republicans have struggled to reach a consensus for a new Speaker, but McCarthy says that he believes Jordan can secure the support needed to lead the House.
“What I did was right. And I have lost my job over that,” McCarthy said on “Sunday Morning Futures,” speaking of his move to keep the government funded by working with Democrats. “That’s OK, because we cannot have this Gaetz doctrine continued any further. Look, I think Jim Jordan can get there. I’m one who understands how difficult it is.”
“I did walk in with more support during this time, but I believe, at the end of the day, Jim can get there. And I’m doing everything I can to help him be able to become Speaker,” he said.
When asked if Jordan had the votes yet, McCarthy said that he still does not but reiterated that he is working to get the full backing of the conference.
“I talked to Jim last night. He’s talking to every single member, assessing what their challenges are. But we have got to be able to work together,” he said. “The real challenge here is, eight Republicans did something no one would [have] thought, that they worked with every single Democrat to disrupt this nation, to remove me as Speaker.”
“So it has taught people now that, why don’t you just go work with Democrats and disrupt government? This will go down in history as one of the biggest mistakes these eight have made in the process,” he said.
House Republicans nominated Jordan for Speaker on Friday in the conference’s second attempt to put forward a candidate on the House floor. Jordan won the nomination with a 152-55 vote, which is far short of the 217 he needs to clinch the gavel.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), the No. 2 House Republican, had narrowly defeated Jordan for the Speaker nomination days before the second vote. But he withdrew from the race after it was made clear he would not have enough votes on the floor to be elected to the role.