Republicans push Gowdy for House leadership role

Several House Republicans are trying to recruit Rep. Trey Gowdy to seek the No. 2 job on the House Republican leadership team.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, told Fox and Friends today that he supports the Spartanburg Republican for House majority leader, which is one step below House speaker.

“Trey Gowdy as majority leader would be heaven-sent,” Chaffetz said. “It would really propel Republicans in the right direction.”

The Republican leadership team has been scrambled since Speaker John Boehner of Ohio announced Friday he would resign at the end of October.

Current Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is a leading candidate to replace Boehner, so the race to fill McCarthy's post is competitive. Candidates include Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, No. 3 on the leadership team, and Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, chairman of the House Budget Committee.

Gowdy has not announced his intention to campaign for any of the leadership slots and downplayed talk last week after Boehner’s announcement.

But conservative colleagues are publicly encouraging him.

Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, announced her support for Gowdy for majority leader on Twitter, asking her followers to help recruit him.

A Gowdy spokeswoman said Tuesday that Gowdy is focused on his role as chairman of the special House committee investigating the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, and "will serve in that capacity so long as the committee exists."

"He appreciates the confidence of his colleagues and looks forward to tonight's conference discussion," according to the statement.

House Republicans planned to meet Tuesday night to discuss the leadership elections, which could come as early as next week.