The House of Representatives will enter its fifteenth day without a Speaker of the House of Representatives, with all legislative priorities put on hold after Jim Jordan suffered a disastrous loss in his first attempt to become Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The House of Representatives has gone home tonight as Jordan tries to win over the 20 holdouts who voted against his opening shot at the top spot. He will try again on Wednesday at 11am.
Jordan can ask for as many votes as he wants and it’s not clear he will give up his bid for speaker at any point. Kevin McCarthy took fifteen rounds of voting before becoming chairman.
Jordan and the number two House Republican, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, met after the failed vote, according to a source familiar with the matter. Jordan asked Scalise for help in securing moderate votes, and Scalise reportedly did not oblige.
A spokesperson for Scalise has walked back this characterization of the meeting, arguing that Scalise has been the “only candidate during this process who has publicly stated that he will support whoever the conference nominates as chairman, and that his position is not changed.’
When Scalise won the vote at the internal Republican Conference, DailyMail.com reported that Jordan had publicly pledged to support him but had taken few steps to urge his supporters to vote for the majority leader.
Jordan quickly lost the support of four Republican lawmakers just minutes after voting began — Reps. Don Bacon, Mario Diaz-Balart, Jake Ellzey and Anthony D’Esposito — clinching his first bid as speaker.
Republican Representative Jim Jordan suffered a disastrous loss in his first attempt to become Speaker of the House of Representatives
The number of defectors continued to rise, with more Republicans voting for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Whip Tom Emmer, Rep. Mike Garcia, former Rep. Lee Zeldin and others who were not on the ballot.
It is unclear whether the Republican troublemaker will immediately move for a second vote, or whether he will ask for time to get the 20 Republican defectors who voted against him on his side.
The Republican Party’s dysfunction shows no signs of abating and some worry that things will only get worse for Jordan during additional rounds of voting. Representative Ken Buck – who voted for Emmer – told CNN that although he voted for him, “I don’t like Tom Emmer.”
Jordan could only afford to lose three Republican votes to reach a majority of 217, while all Democrats were expected to vote for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
The House is currently led by interim Speaker Patrick McHenry, who has little power to bring up legislation in the House.
Congress has been paralyzed for two weeks and cannot conduct business
Republicans have been embroiled in a civil war since McCarthy became the first speaker in history to be ousted by colleagues two weeks ago when eight rebel GOP members voted to oust him.
Congress is paralyzed, unable to conduct business, and has only a month left before the government runs out of money again. The House of Representatives also cannot vote to provide much-needed aid to Israel after the brutal Hamas terror attack left more than 1,300 civilians dead and at least 29 Americans dead.
House Freedom Caucus founder Jordan emerged as the favorite after Rep. Steve Scalise abruptly dropped out last Thursday. Jordan, who is seen as a far-right alternative to the more established Scalise, worked overtime last weekend in an attempt to get Republicans on his side.
Former President Donald Trump endorsed Jordan for the top Republican position, reiterating his support in a post on Truth Social Tuesday.
“Jim Jordan will be a GREAT Speaker of the House of Representatives. As everyone knows, I long ago gave him my full and total approval!’
McCarthy himself urged Republican remainers to vote for Jordan — or vote “present” to lower the majority threshold — so the House could get back to work quickly. He publicly supported Jordan in the recorded vote in the House of Representatives.
When asked by CNN on his way to the House floor, Jordan said members could potentially vote on multiple ballots throughout the day to confirm a Republican leader.
“Whatever it takes to get a speaker today,” Jordan said about whether he was willing to go as many rounds as former Speaker McCarthy — whose January confirmation lasted five days and 15 rounds.
In the first vote for McCarthy, 19 voted for a Republican other than him. By the 14th round of voting, only six holdouts remained.
The House Judiciary Committee chairman also noted that he had not asked Trump to help count the lashes on his behalf.
He declined to respond to a question about a demand from fellow Republican Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., for Jordan to admit that the 2020 presidential election was not stolen.
On the floor, Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., gave a nomination speech for Jordan praising his work.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., a Jordan supporter, brought her new baby to the House floor Tuesday
“He is an America First fighter who wins the toughest battles, going after corruption and holding himself accountable at the highest levels of government on behalf of WE THE PEOPLE.”
Democrats began chanting at the start of Rep. Pete Aguilar’s speech in support of Hakeem Jeffries, the incumbent minority leader.
“Hakeem, Hakeem, Hakeem” sounded from the enthusiastic Democrats from the audience.
They also began shouting “he said no” as Aguilar listed the many Democratic priorities Jordan had voted against, including Hurricane Sandy funding and others.
Aguilar labeled Jordan an “insurrection instigator” — referring to his vote against certifying the 2020 election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania.
Jordan and his allies spent the weekend pressuring holdouts to vote for him — with the unspoken threat that if they didn’t, they would risk a primary challenge given Jordan’s popularity with grassroots conservatives .
Rep. Don Bacon was the first member to cast his vote for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, shunning Jordan
Another McCarthy supporter, Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, refused to vote for Jordan on the spot
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, the top contender in the race to become the next Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, talks with House colleagues
Jordan and his allies have been pushing to vote for him all weekend
Republican chaos in the House of Representatives continued Tuesday as firebrand Rep. Jim Jordan failed to get enough votes to replace Kevin McCarthy as the new Speaker
While the House of Representatives is in turmoil, the bigger fights are on hold; in a month, government funding will run out again. House Republicans had hoped to pass 12 single-issue government funding bills by then, but it is almost certain they will need another continuing resolution (CR) to pass the funding deadline.
McCarthy laid a CR on the floor and that prompted his ouster. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., had long promised to introduce a motion to unseat the administration if McCarthy expanded government funding at 2023 levels instead of 12 separate bills.
Even if the House can pass all of its appropriations bills, it will have to work with the Senate to get the spending legislation through the Democratic-led Senate. Jordan is not known for his ability to work across the aisle — another factor that could draw skepticism from moderates.
The outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas has also increased pressure as Congress must decide whether to provide Israel with more defense aid.
On the other hand, Congress is also divided over whether Ukraine should provide more help in its fight against Russia.