The major candidates to succeed Kevin McCarthy as US House Speaker will debate Monday on Fox News, an unusually public forum for campaigning in a party leadership election in which only members of Congress vote, a person familiar with plans said.
Speaker candidates Steve Scalise, currently the second-ranking House Republican leader, and Jim Jordan, who helped found the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, will both participate, according to the person. So will Kevin Hern, who hasn’t yet announced he will seek the post but has been exploring a candidacy.
House Republicans are selecting a new party leader amid extraordinary internal tensions that have sent Washington hurtling toward a potential US government shutdown in mid-November. Dissident hardliners ousted McCarthy this week after disagreements over a temporary funding plan that averted an Oct. 1 shutdown.
Former President Donald Trump threw his support behind Jordan, the bombastic House Judiciary Committee chairman who has pressed for an impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden and criticized federal prosecutions of Trump.
Plans call for the debate to be aired at 6 p.m. on Fox News, though it isn’t clear yet whether the discussion will be live of pre-taped, the person said. Current plans call for Fox News anchor Bret Baier to moderate, the person added.
