Republicans pick Jim Jordan as nominee for House speaker

Table Of Content

• Democrats chant support for Jeffries
• House Speaker Race
• Jim Jordan's speakership bid ends after third lost vote
• Jordan argues the House can't help Israel until a speaker is elected
• House Republicans to meet after failed Jordan vote
• GOP members who bucked McCarthy call on colleagues to back Jordan
• Jim Jordan fails on third vote for House speaker after losing more GOP support

Republicans abruptly dropped Rep. Jim Jordan on Friday as their nominee for House speaker, making the decision during a closed-door session after the hard-edged ally of Donald Trump failed badly on a third ballot for the gavel. Overwhelmed and exhausted, anxious GOP lawmakers worry their House majority is being frittered away to countless rounds of infighting and some don't want to reward the speaker's gavel to Jordan's wing, which sparked the turmoil. After his colleagues then voted to withdraw Mr. Jordan’s nomination, about a dozen House Republicans, few of them household names, quickly began making calls and exploring bids for speaker. Republicans cast aside their latest nominee for House speaker on Friday, rejecting Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio during a secret ballot vote, leaving them once again to search for a new leader amid raging personal and political recriminations. Jordan was selected as the new Republican House speaker nominee last week, and aimed to replace former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted in a historic recall vote on Oct. 3.

Democrats chant support for Jeffries

"We are a ship that doesn't have a rudder right now," Rep. Mark Alford, a freshman member from Texas, told reporters Thursday. "This is a troubling time for members who came here to do serious business." Several moderate Republicans have said they would oppose his candidacy, leaving the future of his bid for the speaker's gavel in doubt. Whether he will ultimately have better luck than Scalise in uniting the fractured Republican conference remains to be seen, but a follow-up vote made clear that he has a steep hill to climb. Asked whether they plan to support Jordan in a vote of the full House, 152 GOP members said yes, and 55 said no, according to one lawmaker. The New York Times reports that Republican Reps. Kevin Hern, Austin Scott, Jack Bergman and Byron Donalds are all entering the race to be their party's nominee for the role.

House Speaker Race

But in a throwback appeal to the district’s anti-Communist roots, she’s also suggested that Chen, a longtime Navy reservist and the son of Taiwanese immigrants, would be soft on the Chinese Communist Party. From Republican Steve Knight to Democrat Katie Hill back to Republican Garcia, this district, once a GOP stronghold, has been ping-ponging between the parties since 2016. In 2020, Garcia, the conservative former Navy pilot and Georgetown graduate, held on to the seat by a mere 333 votes, the third closest outcome of any congressional race in the country that year. And that was before redistricting jettisoned the district’s most conservative outpost in Simi Valley, giving Democratic voters even more of an edge. Here are all the candidates running for 17 congressional seats in L.A.

Jim Jordan's speakership bid ends after third lost vote

Your district may be different from what it was in the last election, thanks to our once-a-decade redistricting process. In 2021, an independent commission redrew the maps for the state’s districts in accordance with the latest Census numbers, and those maps determine which seat you’re voting for on your ballot this year. Jordan has been a top Trump ally, particularly during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack by the former president’s backers who were trying to overturn the 2020 election he lost to Biden. House Republicans' latest nominee for speaker, Rep. Jim Jordan seems far short of the required number of votes — and it's unclear he has a path forward.

Overwhelmed and exhausted, anxious GOP lawmakers worry their House majority is being frittered away to countless rounds of infighting and some don’t want to reward Jordan’s wing, which sparked the turmoil. Now, as the House seeks a new speaker, the 118th is the first ever Congress to need two speaker elections with multiple ballots. Rep. Jim Jordan, who on Friday lost his third round of voting and later lost in a secret ballot, is no longer a nominee. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar gaggled briefly this morning on their way to votes. Jeffries told NBC News he still believes a bipartisan path forward is possible to elect a speaker because “there are still reasonable Republicans on the other side of the aisle” and cited a desire for bipartisan bills to be brought to the floor.

Jordan argues the House can't help Israel until a speaker is elected

“Congressman Sessions believes he can forge a positive path as a conservative leader who can unite the Conference. During his congressional career, he has played a vital role in the Republican Party, in Texas and nationally, including a decade in Party leadership,” Sessions wrote in a statement posted on X. Some years ago, Jordan and his office denied allegations from former wrestlers during his time as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University who accused him of knowing about claims they were inappropriately groped by an Ohio doctor. While Jordan has a long list of detractors, his supporters said voting against the Trump ally during a public vote on the House floor would be tougher since he is so popular and well known among more conservative GOP voters.

Republicans nominate Mike Johnson for House speaker in latest attempt to break impasse - NBC News

Republicans nominate Mike Johnson for House speaker in latest attempt to break impasse.

Posted: Wed, 25 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

His exit added to the chaos that has enveloped the GOP conference since McCarthy's ouster. The House is now in its second week without a leader, leaving one chamber of Congress effectively paralyzed until a speaker is elected. Shortly after McCarthy's ouster, Republicans nominated Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise to be speaker, though he could not shore up support to win the speaker election and soon withdrew himself from consideration for the role. The situation is not fully different from the start of the year, when McCarthy faced a similar backlash from a different group of far-right holdouts who ultimately gave their votes to elect him speaker, then engineered his historic downfall. Frustrated House Republicans have been fighting bitterly over whom they should elect to replace the speaker they ousted, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, and the future direction of their party.

Overwhelmed and exhausted, anxious GOP lawmakers worry their House majority is being frittered away to countless rounds of infighting and some don’t want to reward the speaker’s gavel to Jordan’s wing, which sparked the turmoil. Electing Jordan, a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, to the powerful position second in line to the presidency would move the GOP’s far right into a central seat of U.S. power. A groundswell of high-profile backers including Fox News’ Sean Hannity publicly pressured lawmakers to vote Jordan into the speaker’s office after the stunning ouster of Kevin McCarthy. House, leaving a major part of the government severely hobbled at a time of challenges at home and abroad. In fact, Jordan lost rather than gained votes despite hours spent trying to win over holdouts, no improvement from the 20 and then 22 Republicans he lost in early rounds this week. Majority Leader Steve Scalise said they would “start over” Monday.

The political pressure increasingly is on Republicans to reverse course, reassert majority control and govern in Congress. On Jan. 3, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy became the first candidate in the majority party to lose a bid for the House speakership in 100 years. He won the gavel in the 15th round of voting, making his election the longest since before the Civil War.

But Jordan's allies swung into high gear at a chance for the hard-right leader to seize the gavel. For their part, top Democrats have used the opportunity to press Republicans to discuss a consensus government. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has publicly offered to help Republicans elect a speaker, which he reiterated Thursday in a PBS interview. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., (right) and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., talk during a break in a House committee hearing in 2021.

The president's remarks also aimed to put pressure on Congress to approve an emergency funding package that his administration plans to submit Friday. Biden may request $60 billion in aid to Ukraine and a total of $40 billion for Israel, Taiwan and the U.S.-Mexico border, people familiar with the matter said this week. President Joe Biden spoke to the nation in a rare prime-time address last night, explaining why he believes it’s crucial for Israel and Ukraine to win the respective wars they’re fighting, as he looks to build support for a hefty aid package aimed at strengthening both countries. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., told Meet the Press NOW that he received death threats over not voting for Jim Jordan as speaker and described the “painful” meetings among House Republicans.

The dysfunction among Republicans comes as lawmakers are confronting a fast-approaching Nov. 17 deadline to fund the government and rising pressure to respond to the war in Israel and Gaza following the brutal attacks by Hamas nearly one week ago. Jordan is a hardline conservative and co-founded the House Freedom Caucus, a group of far-right members who have been a thorn in the side of previous GOP leaders for years. As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, the Ohio Republican is also one of the most vocal defenders of former President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill and is playing a leading role in the impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Republicans will not bring Jordan's nomination to the floor immediately, instead choosing to stand in recess for the weekend to give Jordan time to try to win over his detractors. Now, Republicans find themselves back at square one as they are without a speaker to help avert congressional gridlock ahead of a looming government shutdown. House Republicans then chose Jordan as the party's nominee, though he too failed to garner enough support for the role after three rounds of voting.

Ahead of the conference meeting, Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., said he was not planning to vote for Jordan. In his view, Jordan undermined Scalise's nomination and didn't work hard enough to consolidate support for Scalise. "I can tell you, [my constituents'] priority is that we have a functioning government," Garcia said. "And if that means that I support someone that may be more conservative than me and may be a political lightning rod, but I'm willing to do that, especially if he's the only candidate." Members will leave Washington for the weekend and regroup Monday as they enter a third week without a speaker. With a number of Republicans speaking out against him, Jordan has work to do in order to secure the 217 votes necessary to win a majority of the whole House.

On Friday, another California Republican, Rep. Tom McClintock, had introduced a motion to reinstate McCarthy during the morning meeting, but it was shelved. Rep. Mike Johnson of Louisiana, the vice conference chair and Judiciary member, is making calls for speaker, according to a source. Sessions is among the growing list of members who are throwing their hat in the ring for speaker now that the field is wide open. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., left for Israel yesterday to observe the situation on the ground, which means Jordan will be down at least one vote today. Perry said no one complained about “the pressure campaign from all the lobbyists and special interest groups in January” when McCarthy ran for speaker.

So he basically told members to go home, and they're going to regroup on Monday. "There's some real quality people in there that are smart, not only intellectually, but politically, who can fundraise and lead the conference in the direction because our fight is not with each other, it shouldn't be with each other," Murphy told reporters before Friday's internal vote. The next step in the process for electing a new speaker involves a vote of the full House, Democrats included. Scalise's nomination never got that far, since he lacked the support among his own members that would have avoided a long, drawn-out floor battle like the kind that preceded McCarthy's election earlier this year. Jordan will require near unanimity among Republican members to overcome united Democratic opposition. The House, without a speaker, is essentially unable to function during a time of turmoil in the U.S. and wars overseas.

Investigations into Biden and his family would push to the forefront. Some years ago, Jordan denied allegations from former wrestlers during his time as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University who accused him of knowing about claims they were inappropriately groped by an Ohio State doctor. Republicans predict the House could essentially stay closed until the mid-November deadline for Congress to approve funding or risk a federal government shutdown. To win over GOP colleagues, Jordan had relied on backing from Trump, the party’s front-runner in the 2024 election, and groups pressuring rank-and-file lawmakers for the vote. A relatively moderate former member of the Assembly, she ran in the special election to fill this area’s congressional seat after Katie Hill resigned in 2019. While most of the state’s Democratic establishment was quick to rally behind her for another go, some national Democratic groups and members of Congress were slower to get on board, evidently skeptical that her third time would in fact be the charm.