Next Speaker Of The House Race Ongoing, Representative Hern Canvassing

Three days after Kevin McCarthy’s shocking ouster as Speaker of the House — three days closer to the next funding deadline — it was still not at all clear Friday who will be replacing McCarthy and just when regular House business might resume.

The race for Speaker right now is officially between two men: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan. Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern, from Oklahoma’s 1st District, remains an undecided wild card.

"I'm anxiously waiting to hear back from a lot of members that I’ve reached out to," Rep. Hern (R-OK1) said in an interview Tuesday night.

Hern said that, in the hours immediately following the 216-210 vote on the Motion to Vacate the Speaker's office, he was contacted by more than 50 members urging him to consider running. Hern said he was very seriously considering it but wanted to canvas as much of the conference as possible "to see what that looks like, how you get 218 votes to represent the Republican conference as the Speaker of the House -- it’s really important that we look and make sure we are making the right decision."

A spokesperson Friday said he was still in the process of reaching out to all 221 of his GOP House colleagues.

Ohio's Jim Jordan, meanwhile, needed less than 24 hours to decide he was in.

"My politics are entirely consistent with where conservatives and Republicans are across the country," he told reporters earlier this week.

Thursday night, Jordan (R-OH) got the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, who posted on his social media platform that Jordan would "be a great Speaker of the House and has my complete and total endorsement."

Louisiana's Steve Scalise, who's undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, was also eager to jump in and has strong support in the conference.

"This is really important that we get this right," Rep. Scalise (R-LA) told reporters.

A private candidate forum is set for Tuesday night, according to a schedule sent out Friday by Republican leadership, with the conference possibly holding a first internal vote on Wednesday.

In the meantime, some Republicans are saying the rule that allowed one person -- Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) -- to file the motion that took down McCarthy needs to be changed once a new Speaker is elected. Kevin Hern disagrees.

"I think that’s wrong for the American people," Hern said in the interview. "The American people want to make sure there’s accountability and responsibility in that Speaker's role. It’s a very powerful position. And I’m not afraid of that at all -- I wouldn’t vote to change that."

Hern will be in Oklahoma briefly this weekend for a family commitment but then comes right back to Washington to continue his outreach to members.