With House Majority Leader Steve Scalise ending his bid for speaker of the House on Thursday, and the GOP conference reconvening Friday morning, multiple sources tell Newsmax Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, will put his name forward and likely will not be contested on the opening ballots.
It is also expected that Jordan, who came in second to Scalise, will also face a determined group of moderates opposed to his speakership.
"There are just too many 'never Jims' in our conference, just as there were too many 'never Steves,'" one GOP House member told Newsmax as Republicans concluded their evening meeting.
Failing to get the magic 217 votes to clinch the nomination, the race will open.
Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., chair of the influential and conservative Republican Study Committee, will vote for Jordan on the opening ballot, but then will likely jump into the race if Jordan fails.
There are strong signs Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., who is next in line to Scalise in the House GOP hierarchy, will also put his name forward.
Emmer was reportedly making phone calls to colleagues late Thursday to line up support.
Sources close to former President Donald Trump tell me that he strongly opposes Emmer. Trump likes Hern.
Emmer also headed the National Republican Congressional Committee in the '22 election cycle — one that gave the GOP disappointing results.
A number of members of pointed out that the Republicans won the house in '22 largely because of surprise victories in New York State, districts that Emmer had not focused on.
But where Emmer has a lifetime rating of 77% from the American Conservative Union, Hern is rated 96%. Moreover, Hern has closer ties to Trump and the party's MAGA wing.
House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., the lone woman in the House Republican leadership, was being mentioned for speaker as soon as Scalise exited.
But sources close to the New Yorker said she is more likely to pursue the majority leadership if Emmer moves up to speaker.
Should House Republicans be unable to agree on Emmer or Hern for speaker, I am told multiple other Republicans will put their names forward.
Whoever Republicans select as their designated speaker will almost certainly have to get to the "magic 217" among his or her fellow Republicans — something that neither Scalise nor dethroned Speaker Kevin McCarthy were able to do.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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