McCarthy on Speaker race: ‘I feel very good about where Jim Jordan is’

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Monday that he feels “very good” about Rep. Jim Jordan’s  (R-Ohio) chances to succeed him as House Speaker.

Jordan has been building momentum, with several Republicans who last week were opposing him saying they are now ready to back him as the House prepares for a vote Tuesday.

“It won’t be today; it will be tomorrow, we’ll go to the floor. I feel very good about where Jim Jordan is at,” McCarthy said during an appearance on Fox News’s “Fox and Friends” on Monday. “He — he has been an integral part of — of our team when we took the majority, helping us get the majority.” 

Jordan would need 217 votes on the House floor to be elected Speaker. With all Democrats backing Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Jordan will only be able to afford a few defections.

It’s been two weeks since McCarthy was voted out of his position as House Speaker.

The historic vote was brought on by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), as he and seven other Republican lawmakers joined their Democratic colleagues in a 216-210 vote to remove McCarthy from his leadership position. 

Besides Gaetz, the other seven GOP lawmakers who voted against McCarthy are Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Ken Buck (Colo.), Tim Burchett (Tenn.), Eli Crane (Ariz.), Bob Good (Va.), Nancy Mace (S.C.) and Matt Rosendale (Mont.).

Since then, McCarthy has signaled his support for Jordan to win the House Speakership vote, referring to him as a “great ally.” 

“I support Jim Jordan fully, Jim was a great ally to me. He worked hard,” McCarthy told host John Catsimatidis in an interview on the “Cats and Cosby” radio show last week. “We came into Congress together.”

Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) initially won a closed-door GOP vote over Jordan last week to be the GOP’s Speaker nominee. But he was unable to win over supporters of Jordan, and eventually withdrew from consideration as a future Speaker.