Rep. Matt Gaetz, one of a handful of Republicans who oppose House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy becoming House speaker next week, has publicly urged Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to seek the leadership post.
Gaetz (R-Fla.) is one of a core group of House Freedom Caucus members who voted against McCarthy’s initial nomination last month.
“All I want for Christmas is @Jim_Jordan to realize he should be Speaker of the House!,” Gaetz wrote in a Twitter post on Christmas Eve.
The Florida man followed that up with another tweet on Christmas Day.
“Merry Christmas to all! Make sure to join me in encouraging @Jim_Jordan to seek the Speakership :),” he said.
McCarthy (R-Calif.) is actively lobbying his Republican colleagues to support him when the full House votes for its next speaker on Jan. 3.
But the GOP only won a small majority in the House in the Nov. 8 midterm elections, and McCarthy, who already faces a challenge from Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), cannot afford to lose any more votes.
In a blistering piece published on the Daily Caller website last week, Gaetz said all House Republicans know that McCarthy “does not actually believe anything. He has no ideology.”
“The McCarthy camp is spinning that Kevin must be accepted because ‘we have to avoid chaos.’ Chaos for who exactly? The special interests that are counting on McCarthy as their lapdog?,” Gaetz continued. “I’m worried about chaos in the lives of my constituents.”
Jordan, a leader in the House Freedom Caucus who is on course to become House Judiciary Committee chairman in the new Congress, has spoken highly of McCarthy’s leadership, saying he “has kept our team together.”
“I mean, what I’ve said all along is, the guy who gets you to the Super Bowl, even if it’s a game in overtime, gets to coach the game, in my judgment,” Jordan told Fox News shortly after Election Day.
In addition, Jordan has given no public indication he would be interested in being speaker.
