U.S. Republican Rep. Jim Jordan joins race for House speaker after McCarthy ouster

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Republican Representative Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, on Wednesday announced that he plans to join the race to become the next House speaker.

Jordan's announcement came one day after Kevin McCarthy's historical removal. Also on Wednesday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, formally entered the race.

"We are at a critical crossroad in our nation's history. Now is the time for our Republican conference to come together to keep our promises to Americans," Jordan, an Ohio Republican, said in a letter to colleagues, seeking their support for his bid for the speakership.

Jordan, who was elected to Congress in 2006, was a former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, considered to be the most conservative and farthest-right bloc within the House Republican Conference.

He was nominated for the speakership in January this year by hard-right Republicans who opposed McCarthy. At that time, however, Jordan maintained his support for McCarthy, who won the position after 15 rounds of voting on the House floor.

McCarthy, a California Republican, was ousted from the position in a 216-210 vote on Tuesday, marking the first time in U.S. history that a House speaker has been voted out of office in the middle of a term. Eight Republicans joined Democrats in removing McCarthy from the speakership.

The removal came less than one day after hardline Republican Representative Matt Gaetz filed a resolution to remove McCarthy through a process known as "a motion to vacate."

Gaetz and other hardline Republicans had warned for weeks they would move to oust McCarthy if McCarthy relied on Democrats to pass funding legislation, criticizing McCarthy for failing to pass legislation with deep spending cuts and border security provisions.

Republican Representative Patrick T. McHenry from North Carolina was named acting speaker of the House after McCarthy's ousting.

McCarthy, who was elected House speaker in January this year, has announced that he would not seek the position again, setting up an expected intense intraparty battle for the speakership.