Republican House Speaker Candidates Withdraw from Televised Fox News Debate

The top Republican candidates vying to replace Rep. Kevin McCarthy as the next speaker of the House of Representatives have backed out of a televised debate scheduled to air on Fox News. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, and Rep. Kevin Hern all agreed that the debate on the conservative news network would not be a good idea, preferring to have a closed-door discussion within the Republican conference. The GOP caucus is scheduled to hold a conference meeting to discuss choosing a speaker, and former President Donald Trump has endorsed Jim Jordan for the role. McCarthy was the first House speaker in U.S. history to be ousted in a no-confidence vote.