WASHINGTON _ The House Freedom Caucus _ which was influential in triggering the demise of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's last bid for the speakership _ has not ruled him out for the top job this time around, according to former Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan.
House Speaker Paul Ryan's announcement Wednesday that he would not seek re-election triggered a battle for the position. McCarthy, R-Calif., currently the second-ranking House Republican, is expected to vie with House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La.
Jordan, R-Ohio, said the Freedom Caucus, a staunchly conservative group of about three dozen House Republicans, hasn't decided who they'd throw their support behind. He mentioned California's McCarthy and Scalise but also said another candidate might be possible.
"(McCarthy) called me once over the break, but I talk with those guys all the time," Jordan told McClatchy. "I've talked to Mr. Scalise and Mr. McCarthy."
Currently the House has 238 Republicans. The GOP members elected in November will choose the next speaker if the party retains a majority.
Jordan said the Freedom Caucus was looking for a "complete reset" in Congress, and gave a big example of why that would be needed: the budget bill that was passed last month.
"It's time for a reset and a refocus on one primary objective: Doing what the American people elected us to do, doing what we told them we were going to do," Jordan said. "And we did not do that four weeks ago on that big omnibus spending package, not even close."
McCarthy was reportedly working with President Donald Trump over the past couple weeks to get recissions, or rollbacks, from that budget bill.
McCarthy has not yet announced a bid for the speakership. He also tried for the speakership in in 2015, when John Boehner left the position, but withdrew amid a rejection by the Freedom Caucus.
Freedom Caucus members also said they were open to considering McCarthy at first in that cycle, but ultimately rejected him for Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., who had little chance of winning. McCarthy subsequently withdrew his bid, calling for a candidate that could get the support of all Republicans.
In a statement at the time, the Freedom Caucus said they saw McCarthy as a "continuation of the status quo" from Boehner. They also called for "significant changes to conference leadership," a similar charge Jordan made Wednesday.
Ultimately, Ryan stepped in to take the speaker's gavel at the urging of his House GOP colleagues.
McCarthy remained in his post as whip, but has not given up his leadership ambitions. And he has done some successful bridge-building with hardline conservatives in the House in recent years.
Freedom Caucus members, however, are still not entirely pleased with McCarthy's leadership. They've been disappointed that House Republican leaders have yet to hold a vote on a conservative-authored immigration bill, backed by Virginia Republican Robert Goodlatte, that would impose strict new rules on both illegal and legal immigration and mandate an e-verify program for employers.
California's agriculture industry, a major force in McCarthy's Bakersfield-area home district, is strongly opposed to the bill.
McCarthy, however, has an advantage he lacked in his 2015 campaign for speaker: A friendly relationship with the man in the Oval Office. McCarthy is known to be one of President Trump's closest advisers in Congress, dining with him in Washington and Mar-a-Lago. That relationship could help him argue to fellow Republicans that he is the man in the best position to advance the Trump agenda on Capitol Hill.
A White House spokesperson declined to comment on if Trump would support a McCarthy speakership bid.
