Jim Jordan is on track to lose a third round of voting for chairman – in an event that could spell the end of his candidacy.
Eight Republicans voted against the chairman of the judiciary, with the vote still underway. He could only afford to lose five votes.
It is not clear whether the renowned conservative ‘fighter’ will continue to fight for the top position in the House of Representatives, as it becomes increasingly clear that his opponents are not backing down.
“It’s kind of like the baseball analogy: three strikes and you’re out,” said Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., a Jordan supporter.
Jordan had called on former Kevin McCarthy to nominate him – a number of Jordan holdouts had voted for McCarthy instead.
After winning an internal Republican nomination, Jordan lost 20 votes on his first vote as speaker and 22 on his second. He will move to a third vote on Friday morning.
Jordan is the second candidate for chairman who apparently cannot reach a 217 majority since the impeachment of Kevin McCarthy: Majority Leader Steve Scalise initially won the vote at the Republican conference, but dropped out as the Republican candidate for chairman after just 24 hours.
At the time, Jordan supporters were stubbornly against voting for Scalise even after he won the nomination. Now, a number of Republicans are not only angry about McCarthy’s impeachment, but also angry about the way Jordan supporters actively opposed Scalise’s nomination.
It is also not clear who could take Jordan’s place. Names like Kevin Hern, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, Jodey Arrington, chairman of the Budget Committee, and Mike Johnson, vice chairman of the Republican Conference, have all been floated. They are all apparently less controversial than Jordan, McCarthy and Scalise, but it is not clear whether they would also be able to score among the free-wheeling Republicans in the House of Representatives.