WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who is chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Sunday that he will challenge the current majority leader when the House holds leadership elections to replace outgoing Speaker John Boehner.
Chaffetz, R-Utah, made the announcement in an appearance on Fox News Sunday.
"We were entrusted by the American people with the largest majority the Republicans have ever had since Babe Ruth was swinging the baseball bat," said Chaffetz. "But they didn't send us here to perpetuate the status quo. They want us to tackle the tough issues."
House conservatives who hoped to shake up their party leadership by pushing out Boehner are seeing their efforts boosted by the shaky week for the lawmaker seen by many of his colleagues to be next in line for speaker, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California.
McCarthy's bid for speaker suffered a setback when he made a statement that the committee investigating the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, has eroded support for Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential race.
"Kevin McCarthy is a good man and he's a big part of why we have such a solid majority, but things have changed and there's a math problem," Chaffetz said on Fox. "There are nearly 50 people and a growing number that will not and cannot vote for Kevin McCarthy as the speaker on the floor. He's going to fall short of the 218 votes on the floor of House.
"I've had enough members who've come and said, 'Please, Jason, do this. We don't want to fight internally. But realistically, we can't vote to promote the existing leadership.'"
While McCarthy remains the more likely choice for a majority of the 247-member conference in private voting set for Thursday, the House Tea Party Caucus announced Friday that it invited Chaffetz to appear with McCarthy and a third long-shot speaker candidate on Tuesday at a conservative forum to lay out their "candidacies and vision" for the House.
The disgruntlement among Republicans is leading Boehner to consider a delay in elections for the majority leader and majority whip jobs, the No. 2 and No. 3 posts, Politico reported on Sunday. A Boehner spokesman said votes for all the leadership positions are still scheduled for Thursday.
Chaffetz's position at the head of the oversight panel has put him at the center of high-profile Republican initiatives, including the grilling this week of Planned Parenthood leader Cecile Richards.
In short order Sunday, McCarthy's allies circulated a list of Chaffetz's comments, such as his refusal to rule out an effort to impeach President Barack Obama. For his part, Chaffetz has loudly objected to McCarthy's remarks last week in which he suggested that the GOP-led probe into the 2012 attacks on a diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, had scored political points against Clinton. Clinton was secretary of state at the time of the attacks, which killed four Americans.
Chaffetz also is tangling with the Secret Service as he leads an inquiry into security lapses at the White House and on presidential trips. The White House said Thursday that "significant concerns" have been raised by reports that in the days after a key hearing on the issue, more than 40 Secret Service employees looked at a job application Chaffetz submitted to the agency in 2003 that was later rejected. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and Secret Service Director Joe Clancy have apologized to Chaffetz, but the congressman is urging criminal action.
Even before inviting Chaffetz to address the group, Tea Party Caucus Chairman Tim Huelskamp of Kansas told reporters his faction was eyeing another candidate and was working to persuade that lawmaker to seek the speakership.
Tuesday's forum will include members of other conservative House caucuses, the House Freedom Caucus and the Conservative Opportunity Society, which together comprise about 80 House Republicans.
"When 60 percent of all Republican voters believe that Beltway Republicans have betrayed them, this is a historic time to change the current direction of Congress," Huelskamp said in a statement Thursday. "Unlike the last three Speaker elections, this time we should vet each candidate thoroughly."
"We must ensure that whoever is the next Speaker will work with conservatives, not against us," Huelskamp said.
Huelskamp has not been alone in predicting others could emerge to challenge McCarthy, whether Chaffetz or someone else.
"I've got a feeling another candidate will be jumping into the race," said Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida, who until the announcement from Chaffetz was the only declared challenger to McCarthy.
Webster, who got only 12 votes in January when he made a long-shot bid against Boehner for speaker, said he anticipated another hopeful would emerge in the leadership race.
Amid the disarray, some lawmakers are seeking more time to consider their options. Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., planned to send a letter seeking a delay in elections to lower-level leadership posts. But Rep. Steve Scalise's camp claimed Sunday that he already had enough votes to win the race for House majority leader.
Two other leading conservatives who already have said they were not running -- Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling of Texas -- have not changed their minds, say aides. Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the party's 2012 vice presidential nominee, and Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina have said they aren't running, either.
As for his leadership prospects, McCarthy said he was "very close" to securing the votes needed to be Boehner's successor and "we're going to win this race." He acknowledged, though, the Benghazi remarks had been "a setback," because he did not want to harm the committee's work.
Information for this article was contributed by Billy House and Terrence Dopp of Bloomberg News and by Laurie Kellman of The Associated Press.
A Section on 10/05/2015