Rep. Jason Chaffetz to challenge Kevin McCarthy in race for House speaker

Reporting from Washington —  Rep. Jason Chaffetz says he’s running for speaker of the House, challenging fellow Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, whose lock on the job appears vulnerable because of his own words a few days ago.

Chaffetz, appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” said he would bridge the divide between centrist and hard-right Republicans and be a fresh voice for change that the country is seeking.

“He’s been in existing leadership for years and years, and the strife and divide is getting worse,” the Utah congressman said of McCarthy. “It’s not getting better.”

In challenging the No. 2 leader in the House, Chaffetz is expected to face a steep climb to the position that is second in line to succeed the president.

McCarthy’s job as House majority leader and his service as majority whip have placed him in close contact with party conference members who will decide the winner. He also has been a helpful fundraiser, including for his conservative colleagues.

But it remains uncertain whether he will win the support of an influential group of hard-right conservatives who played a part in House Speaker John A. Boehner’s decision to leave Congress at the end of the month.

McCarthy’s recent comments about the GOP’s intentions in investigating former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in relation to the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, were widely viewed as a gaffe, even among Republicans, and have left him vulnerable.

“Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right?” McCarthy said Tuesday on Fox News. “But we put together a Benghazi special committee. A select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s untrustable.”

Democrats pounced on the remark as proof that the GOP’s Benghazi inquiry is politically motivated. Several fellow Republicans repudiated McCarthy’s words, which he has retracted.

But the comments have handed a potent weapon to Democrats ahead of Clinton’s high-profile Oct. 22 appearance before the committee. The Benghazi attacks killed four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya.

Chaffetz, 48, said the GOP needed to reform the way it selected its leaders and committee chairs. On political matters, he said he supported current budget caps but would like to spend more on the military, veterans and cancer research. And he said he is not in favor of raising the debt limit without also reining in government spending.

Still, Chaffetz acknowledged that McCarthy probably had the votes to be nominated for speaker. He said he would support whomever the House selected but would fight to win.

“I want a speaker who speaks,” Chaffetz said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“We need somebody who’s out there, who is actually going out there and making the case to the American people, talking to the Senate about what we need to do and going on the national television shows and winning that argument. We don’t seem to win the argument, and that’s a problem.”

Chaffetz, a former political aide and businessman, was first elected to Congress in 2008, defeating an incumbent Republican in the primary.

Not known to be camera shy, Chaffetz has been a frequent guest on political talk shows.

As chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, he has criticized the performance of the Secret Service and accused the Internal Revenue Service of targeting conservative groups. And his questioning of Planned Parenthood’s activities following the release of controversial undercover video footage has helped reignite the abortion debate.

McCarthy’s spokesman declined to comment on Chaffetz’s announcement.

Rep. Daniel Webster of Florida also has announced his candidacy for speaker.

Boehner, who has struggled to keep the party’s factions together, announced his intention to retire more than a week ago. The unexpected news set in motion a reshuffling in the House Republican leadership. The GOP’s closed-door leadership election is scheduled for Thursday, and the full House will vote later this month.

marcus.howard@latimes.com