SECOND UPDATE (12:58 p.m. ET):
A bizarre turn of events. It appears an increasing number of Republican lawmakers don’t support the idea of televised joint interview/forum featuring the party’s House Speaker candidates on Fox News. With that in mind, speaker candidates Rep. Steve Scalise, Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Kevin Hern have now decided not to participate in the previously-announced event, reports CNN’s Melanie Zanona.
Another source familiar tells me that Scalise and Jordan talked and agreed it wouldn’t be wise.
AdvertisementThe forum is off. https://t.co/mRUBERyMnk
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) October 6, 2023
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UPDATE: 10:15 a.m. ET:
Bret Baier will present what is now being called a “joint interview,” not a debate, with House Representatives Jim Jordan (R-OH), Steve Scalise (R-LA) and Kevin Hern (R-OK) from Capitol Hill on Special Report this coming Monday at 6 p.m. ET. According to Fox News, ahead of the vote on Tuesday, Baier will speak with the congressmen on who should be the next Speaker of the House and discuss the issues facing Congress and the GOP going forward.
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ORIGINAL (9:45 a.m. ET)
Republicans’ selection process to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy as the new Speaker of the House kicks into high gear on Monday, with Fox News anchor Bret Baier set to host “a closed debate” and discussion between the candidates on Monday evening.
Punchbowl News was first to report, citing a source.
As of now, House Majority Leader (and most recently McCarthy’s No. 2), Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), House Judiciary Chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) are poised to participate in Monday night’s proceedings. Scalise and Jordan are widely considered the presumptive frontrunners, as of publication time. Jordan recently received an endorsement from de-facto Republican party leader and 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Baier is an obvious choice to moderate this event. This past summer, he co-moderated the Republican party’s first presidential primary debate of the 2024 election season.
House Republicans apparently want to move fast in replacing recently-ousted Speaker McCarthy. The Baier-hosted closed debate/discussion will take place Monday, followed by a candidate forum on Tuesday and closed party election on Wednesday. However, Punchbowl reports that it’s still “highly unlikely” a new speaker will be chosen and approved by the end of next week.