Sources: Chaffetz planning to run for U.S. House speaker


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SALT LAKE CITY — Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, is planning a run for U.S. House speaker and is expected to make a formal announcement Sunday that he's in the race.

That announcement could come in what's being billed as an exclusive interview on Fox News Sunday said to feature a discussion of the "shake-up facing the GOP House as it faces an election to replace Speaker John Boehner next Thursday."

Sources told the Deseret News Friday that Chaffetz has been making phone calls about a bid for the top spot in the House, set to be vacated at the end of the month after Boehner's surprise announcement that he was leaving Congress.

Chaffetz, 48, who has represented Utah's 3rd District since 2008, has not responded to requests for comment on the speakership race, set to be decided by House Republicans in a secret ballot next Thursday.

Described as a "long shot" by Politico, Chaffetz is making his move as support is wavering for the frontrunner to succeed Boehner, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California.

McCarthy was criticized by Chaffetz and other conservatives for suggesting earlier this week that the purpose of the House Select Committee on Benghazi was to hurt Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Chaffetz called on McCarthy to apologize Thursday for having said Clinton, secretary of state at the time of the deadly attacks on the U.S. embassy in Libya, is no longer seen as unbeatable as a result of the committee.

A Washington, D.C. source with Utah ties told the Deseret News there is a "plausible path" for Chaffetz to win the powerful position. Influential conservatives in the House are "way more comfortable with Chaffetz than McCarthy," the source said.

Chaffetz, chosen by Boehner to head the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is seen by his colleagues as a "smart fighter" who is media savvy, the source said.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Chaffetz has appeal as a candidate for speaker because he is "very clever with the media and very good at handling the media back there. It's a tough thing to do because they're tough as nails."

Hatch said McCarthy will be tough to beat, but his recent statements hurt him.

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"It's certainly up in the air," Hatch said. "Those mistakes have caused him a lot of pain."

He said having a Utahn serve as House speaker "would be a tribute to the state if that happened. But I question whether it can." Still, Hatch said, the state already has plenty of clout in Washington.

"The delegation is very powerful as it is," said the senator, who serves as Senate president pro tempore and is third in line to the presidency behind the vice president and the House speaker.

"For a small state like ours, we have a lot of sway back there in Washington and we want to keep it that way. I think this would just add to it," Hatch said. But, he added, the new speaker will be in for "a rough, rough time."

University of Utah political science professor Matthew Burbank said there was a time when someone like Chaffetz would be considered too new to Congress to advance to speaker. But times have changed.

"There's a great deal of unhappiness and a willingness to change the rules and try something new," the professor said, which also makes the top job in the House less attractive.


For a small state like ours, we have a lot of sway back there in Washington and we want to keep it that way. I think this would just add to it.

–Senator Hatch


"I don't know why he'd want to be speaker of the House right now. That seems like a horrible position," Burbank said, noting all of the friction with tea party conservatives that led to Boehner's resignation has not gone away.

University of Iowa political science professor Tim Hagle, who met Chaffetz when the congressman was stumping for 2012 GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney in Iowa, called Chaffetz "an interesting choice" for speaker.

The newly released report on the Secret Service's breach of Chaffetz's decade-old rejected application to the agency may help portray him "as strong and standing up and having the Secret Service and the administration striking back," Hagle said.

If Chaffetz can rally tea party Republicans to his candidacy, "he might have a shot," Hagle said. They don't like entrenched leadership, he said, creating a potential opportunity "for someone who is newer, a fresher face."

Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, had a meeting in her congressional office on Thursday with Chaffetz and Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, according to a tweet from a Roll Call reporter.

Gowdy, head of the Benghazi committee, has turned down attempts by Chaffetz and others to run for a leadership post. Love's office had no comment on the meeting, described in the tweet as "palace intrigue."

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Lisa Riley Roche

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