Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is now signaling that he supports Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) as the next Speaker of the House. As we reported just under two weeks ago, McCarthy was ousted by House members in a Motion to Vacate by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). As my colleague, Ward Clark wrote on Friday, Jordan defeated Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) to secure the nomination:

In an earlier vote, Speaker candidate and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) won the nomination but then failed to secure enough votes to guarantee a majority on the House floor, ultimately resulting in his decision to withdraw from the race. 

Jordan won the vote against Scott by a margin of 124-81, meaning that not all lawmakers were present for the vote. [...]

....[T]he House of Representatives has adjourned; no further votes will be taken today. As of this writing, the final vote has not been scheduled.

McCarthy's words of support for Jordan came during an interview on the “Cats and Cosby” radio show with host John Catsimatidis. 

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will support House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan for Speaker: "Jim was a great ally to me." https://t.co/bwwfbpIbd5 pic.twitter.com/jfItE7nSEn

— The Hill (@thehill) October 14, 2023

He said that he "support[s] Jim Jordan fully, Jim was a great ally to me. He worked hard. We came into Congress together." McCarthy looked toward the vote next week, noting that 65 votes are still needed for Jordan to cross the 217 threshold:

We’ve got some people not there yet. We just get together, work a little longer and we can have a new Speaker in Jim Jordan next week.

The report on his comments mentioned that he shared some shorthand on what the secret ballot voting can be compared to:

The former Speaker referenced Friday’s secret ballot vote, calling it what the public “would think is the primary … inside the conference.”

In the wake of McCarthy yielding the Speaker's gavel, Jordan received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

We'll keep you posted on when a vote for Speaker is scheduled in the coming days.