Georgia GOP Rep Austin Scott announces bid for House speaker

A new fighter has entered the ring for the speaker's gavel.

Georgia Republican Rep. Austin Scott, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, announced his candidacy for the lower chamber's speaker's gavel.

Scott threw his hat into the ring for House speaker on Friday after Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., the original nominee for the gavel, pulled out of the race Thursday night.

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The Georgia Republican's communications director Alex Enlow confirmed Scott's speaker candidacy to Fox News Digital.

Scott's candidacy puts him up against House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who narrowly lost to Scalise for the initial nomination.

"I have filed to be Speaker of the House," Austin tweeted Friday. "We are in Washington to legislate, and I want to lead a House that functions in the best interest of the American people."

Scott called Jordan his "good friend" while talking to reporters and that he doesn't "necessarily want to be the speaker of the House."

"I want a House that functions correct, but the House is not functioning correctly right now," Scott said.

The Georgia Republican said if the GOP is "going to be the majority party" they "need to act like it."

Scott said Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Ok., the chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, would be nominating him for speaker.

The Georgia Republican said he also cares more about the GOP conference and he and his colleagues doing their jobs than who is the speaker.

"When I woke up this morning, I had no intention of doing this," Scott said. "It took me a long time to even get to my wife to tell her, ‘Call our friends, be in prayer, because we haven’t done any preparation or any whipping or anything for this."

"But I believe if we as Republicans are going to be the majority, we have to do the right things the right way," Scott said. "And we're not doing that right now."

Scott also blasted the eight Republicans who voted with the House Democrats to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., saying it was "the wrong thing to do."

Jordan received 99 votes to Scalise's 113 during the conference's secret ballot earlier this week.

Jordan has been shoring up support since Scalise's withdrawal from the race, but Scott is a liked figure among the conference and could draw supporters away from Jordan.

House Republicans are set to hold their candidate forum Friday at 1 p.m. ET and are likely holding a conference vote later in the day to determine the candidate.

However, it is unclear if there will be a full floor vote to determine the House's next speaker.

Fox News Digital also learned that Democrats have been told to stick around D.C. for a potential floor vote, meaning the vote could happen Friday at some point.

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Lawmakers met at 10 a.m. and checked their phones at the door for the private conference meeting.

Four amendments to the House Republican Conference Rules that would raise the threshold needed to select a candidate for speaker before that person is nominated on the House floor were tabled during the meeting.

Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind contributed reporting.