AP Photo Chaffetz prepares long-shot bid for House speaker The last-minute move underscores frustration among some members of the Republican Conference with the current choices.

House Oversight and Government Affairs Chairman Jason Chaffetz is planning to run for House speaker, taking on Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in what appears to be a long-shot bid to lead House Republicans, according to multiple sources.

The Utah Republican, first elected to Congress in 2008, is launching a campaign less than a week before the Oct. 8 leadership elections for the House GOP Conference. The date for a floor vote to pick the next speaker has not been set yet, but Thursday's conference vote will name the party's top contender for the post.


McCarthy (R-Calif.) is the overwhelming favorite to win, and it’s unclear at this time how many votes Chaffetz can garner.

But Chaffetz's bid could throw a wrench into the process. Some lawmakers have privately questioned whether McCarthy is a strong enough leader to unify an increasingly divided and unwieldy GOP caucus. Others on the far right want someone who's more conservative.

Still, it's a risky move for Chaffetz. Defectors who voted against Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in past elections were stripped of prized committee posts. Though anyone is free to run against McCarthy — it's different than taking on an incumbent speaker — Chaffetz's decision complicates McCarthy's path and could drive a wedge between the two.

Chaffetz's office would not comment, but sources say he started reaching out to lawmakers Friday to notify them and gauge support.

The decision appears to be last-minute. Just two days ago, Chaffetz said on TV that he planned to back McCarthy.

“Do you support him as the speaker?” CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked Chaffetz.

“I do, yeah,” Chaffetz replied.

But during the same interview, Chaffetz called on McCarthy to apologize for remarks he made this week boasting that the Benghazi panel’s work has hurt 2016 Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in the polls.

On Tuesday, McCarthy told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that “everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi Special Committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping."

The remarks caused a big stir, and were widely seen as bolstering Democrats’ long-running argument that the Benghazi Committee has as much to do with politics as it does investigating the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks.

"That’s an absolutely inappropriate statement," Chaffetz said of McCarthy's comments. "I think it's an absolutely terrible statement. … I think he should apologize. I think he should withdraw it."





Chaffetz earlier this week also made headlines when he backed his close friend, Benghazi Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), for majority leader during an interview on Fox News. Gowdy, a McCarthy friend and ally, has ruled out seeking any leadership job.

The move by the fourth-term lawmaker underscores frustration among some members of the Republican Conference with the current choices to lead it after Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) departs at the end of the month. Boehner announced last week he is resigning effective Oct. 30 amid growing discontent among conservatives with his decisions on major policy questions, including government funding, the Export-Import Bank and boosting the debt ceiling. All of those issues confront Republicans this fall.

Before news of Chaffetz's move, conservative Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) was McCarthy's only opponent.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the only other serious potential threat to McCarthy's ascension to speaker, has also ruled out seeking the job. He is backing McCarthy.

Chaffetz, an affable lawmaker and regular presence on cable TV, rose to Oversight chairman at the beginning of this Congress, skipping over several more senior members to seize the gavel. The 48-year-old previously served as a subcommittee chairman and helped run the panel's investigation of the Benghazi terrorist attacks and the Fast and Furious "gun-walking" operation that went awry — a probe that led to then-Attorney General Eric Holder being held in contempt of Congress.

This year, he's overseen investigations of allegations that Planned Parenthoodprofitsfrom the sale of fetal tissue, as well as the Secret Service and IRS Commissioner John Koskinen’s actions following the tea party targeting scandal.

Chaffetz does not have a reputation as a thorn in leadership's side. After conservative Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) voted against the GOP in a party-line procedural vote earlier this year, Chaffetz stripped Meadows of his oversight subcommittee gavel for disloyalty. He later reinstated Meadows to the post.

