Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise vague about spending plans as battle for House speaker rages on

With Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California) having been ousted as House speaker, several Republicans are being mentioned as contenders. The frontrunners, so far, appear to be Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana).

In an article published on October 9, Daily Beast reporters Sam Brodey and Matt Fuller stress that both Jordan and Scalise have remained vague about their spending plans if they are chosen as speaker. McCarthy was ousted after far-right Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) objected to the stopgap funding agreement the former speaker worked out with House Democrats and initiated a "motion to vacate."

"As Jordan and Scalise work this initial vote," Brodey and Fuller explain, "they've been resistant to get too specific on how they'd handle appropriations bills and a shutdown standoff. A source familiar with Scalise's pitch told The Daily Beast that the majority leader has been telling members he doesn't want to signal to the Senate or the White House what he's willing to do on appropriations. And a source familiar with Jordan's pitch said that Jordan has only been telling members he'd be open to a long-term continuing resolution that would impose a 1 percent cut on current government spending."

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A Capitol Hill source, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told the Beast that appropriations is "the diciest thing that either of them are having to deal with."

According to Brodey and Fuller, Jordan and Scalise "seem to know that getting too specific on a strategy that's ill-fated could be their downfall — either behind closed doors during the initial vote, on the floor when they need almost every Republican, or come November 17 when government funding runs out."

READ MORE: Jim Jordan's speakership would be even more chaotic

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