The Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, a conservative Republican, was opposed by 20 other Republicans on Tuesday, making it impossible for him to win the speaker’s gavel on the first try.
Jordan’s supporters were disappointed by the vote since they had hoped for a majority of the entire House and had voiced optimism that there would only be a small number of holdouts.
A handful of GOP moderates & allies of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy & Majority Leader Steve Scalise were Jordan’s opponents. The House immediately went into recess after the vote, giving Jordan time to try to sway them.
Representatives Ken Buck of Colorado, Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, Kay Granger of Texas, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, and four Republicans from purple-district New York were among the 20 Republicans who voted against Jordan. Six votes went to McCarthy, seven to Scalise, three to former New York GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin, among other anti-Jordan candidates.
After McCarthy’s historic resignation, there have been two weeks of high-stakes instability over the speaker’s gavel. McCarthy was ousted from the House by a group of eight GOP rebels due to the narrow margin; now, a sizable number of House Republicans could also prevent Jordan from taking Jordan’s place.
In addition to lawmakers still enraged at the small group of Republicans that forced out McCarthy and later opposed the nomination of Scalise as speaker, who initially beat Jordan inside the GOP conference, 113 to 99, Jordan’s opponents include centrist Republicans worried that the face of the House GOP is going to be a conservative hardliner.
After the first vote, the House adjourned, and Jordan held talks while hopping between the majority whip’s and the speaker’s offices. Later on Tuesday, when asked if he would return to the floor, Jordan responded, “That’s the plan.”
He declared, “We need to find a speaker as quickly as possible.
According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Jordan met with Scalise and requested the majority leader’s assistance in the battle for speaker, but the latter refused to make a commitment.
McCarthy was initially rejected as speaker in January by 19 Republicans, but after 15 votes he secured a majority and the gavel. Jordan hasn’t indicated how long he intends to pursue the position of speaker.
Just before the vote, Jordan told CNN, “I feel really good.” Is anything necessary to secure a speaker today?
One of the Republicans who refused to back Jordan indicated he would on the next ballot, but other Republicans claimed they wouldn’t be persuaded, leaving Jordan’s future in doubt.
With the Ohio Republican going one-on-one with skeptic lawmakers and his allies outside of Congress attacking the holdouts and threatening political repercussions if they refuse to support a favorite of the Trump-aligned GOP base, Jordan and his allies believed they had made significant progress over the past few days.
With the threat of a government shutdown only one month away thanks to McCarthy’s six-week stopgap spending deal that sparked the move against him, the House is in a state of paralysis and unable to consider legislation, like passing additional military aid to Israel or funding.
Jordan tries to influence the opposition
At least one of Jordan’s opponents stated he would change his vote if there was a second ballot: Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California, a steadfast supporter of McCarthy who voted for McCarthy on the first round, told reporters he will support Jordan on the second ballot.
Jordan was something that LaMalfa was not against. “I supported Kevin McCarthy throughout the entire process, and I believed that the things that have happened to him and the reasons why he has been detained have been terrible. Jim Jordan is a good man, thus I’m voting for him. He performed well on the committee. And we must proceed with this situation today and finish our work.
Rep. John James of Michigan, who supported Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma for speaker, said he would be willing to back Jordan in further voting rounds and that he planned to speak with Jordan later.
James stated, “I’m speaking with Jim Jordan right now, and we’re going to work it out.
However several Republicans stated that they would not budge. Republican Florida Rep. Carlos Gimenez, who supported McCarthy, declared he would never support Jordan but would think about supporting other candidates.
Gimenez declared, “I’m not going to take part in a coup.”
Rep. John Rutherford of Florida said he would continue to support Scalise and thinks the party ought to select a “consensus” candidate, such as acting Speaker Patrick McHenry.
I think we’re going to have to find a consensus candidate now, and I kind of like Patrick McHenry,” he continued.
Don Bacon, a representative from Nebraska, declared on Monday that he would vote against Jordan because he “can’t get past the fact that a few individuals in our conference violated the rules in order to get rid of Kevin, and then blocked Steve.”
A crucial group of New York Republicans who helped the GOP win the majority in the House, the centrists, have been secretly debating their vote for speaker for weeks, according to sources who spoke to CNN. They have conferred with one another and considered voting as a group.
Jordan’s votes against important New York issues, like as voting against relief for Superstorm Sandy and against financing for 9/11 first responder health care, kept coming up as they debated whether to support him.
But according to insiders, they didn’t decide how they would vote in the end until Tuesday morning. Only four people opposed Jordan.
Democrats claim to be open to discussions on a candidate chosen by consensus
While this was going on, all of the Democrats in the House voted for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who received 212 votes to Jordan’s 200 for speaker. After protesting the outcome of the 2020 election and disobeying the January 6 committee’s subpoena in the previous Congress, Democrats attacked the idea of Jordan becoming speaker.
“Clearly, we learned a lot about Mr. Jordan and January 6 and he didn’t show up when we served a subpoena on him. Therefore, it raises questions for someone of his caliber to be a candidate for speaker, said Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, who served as the committee’s chair on January 6. “I’m glad he lost; it’s better for the nation as a whole.”
Democrats declared that they would continue to support Jeffries for speaker, but there was some talk over the potential for backing a different consensus candidate.
“People are conversing with each other. The extremist fringe of their party has now effectively shut down the House, according to former House Democratic whip Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland. “One choice is to vote for a speaker who we believe to be trustworthy and efficient. Our acting speaker, in my opinion, wants to take responsibility. There are therefore many choices.
Jordan’s allies, however, remain optimistic that he can persuade enough opponents to change their minds, citing the significant votes Jordan obtained on Monday, including those of Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri and House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers of Alabama, both of whom had previously referred to Jordan as a “nonstarter.”
Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania stated of the Jordan opponents, “If we can whittle it down to 10 in a hurry, and then get there – I think it’s more likely we do than we don’t.” “In the same vein, we must be ready for what comes after.”
Supporters of Jordan have encouraged the conference to rally behind him. Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania stated that because Jordan backed both McCarthy and Scalise, folks who are upset about what has happened over the past two weeks shouldn’t vent their resentment on him.
“Feelings are hurt,” stated Perry. “However, Jim had nothing to do with that. Therefore, they must direct their anger, if you will, toward people who they believe deserve it, but Jim Jordan is definitely not one of them.