Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), an ally of President Trump and prominent member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, announced Thursday that he will run for speaker of the House when Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) retires from Congress.

“Should the American people entrust us with the majority again in the 116th Congress, our clear mandate will be to continue working with President Trump to keep the promises we made, to stand up for the rule of law and the Constitution, and to put the interests of the people before those of the swamp. I want to help keep us on this track and shape bold, visionary policy that will improve the lives of the people we have the honor to represent,” Jordan wrote in a letter to his colleagues in the House.

In his efforts to protect Trump, Jordan has been a thorn in the side of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe. Jordan has called for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s resignation and targeted FBI agent Peter Strozk in his attempt to paint the Mueller probe as a bipartisan witch hunt. He also led a push to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, filing articles of impeachment on Wednesday, over the Justice Department’s hesitance to turn over troves of classified documents to Congress.

Jordan has forged ahead as a conservative rabble-rouser on Capitol Hill even as he faces allegations that he knew about sexual abuse faced by Ohio State wrestlers by the team doctor while Jordan served as a coach. Jordan has denied the allegations that he had any knowledge of the alleged abuse.

Read Jordan’s letter announcing his bid for speaker: