Congressman Kevin Hern says he hasn't decided whether or not to throw his hat in for speakership

Oklahoma GOP Rep. Kevin Hern said on Friday he has not decided whether or not he will throw in his hat to be the next speaker of the House.

"I still haven’t made a decision on my candidacy for speaker, but I know one thing for sure," Hern wrote on X, formerly called Twitter. "I will not be participating in the televised debate. We need to make this decision as a conference, not on TV. The Republican conference needs a family discussion."

Fox News was set to host a forum with all the GOP House speaker candidates next week, but the event was canceled when the candidates declined to attend.

Fox News had sent out a press release about the event, mentioning that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Oh.) and Hern were expected to be part of the event.

Scalise and Jordan reportedly later had a conversation about the forum and agreed not to participate. 

 Politico reports that Hern is gauging support from GOP colleagues to throw his hat in the ring. 

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was ousted as House speaker earlier this week by eight House Republicans. Many of them initially opposed McCarthy's speakership, and cited recent budget negotiations as the reason for ousting him. 

The House is expected to vote on a new speaker next week.