House Republicans scramble to find new speaker nominee after they ditch Jim Jordan

Republican lawmakers on Friday ditched Rep. Jim Jordan as their nominee for speaker of the House of Representatives after his bid to secure the gavel failed for a third time. 

It is unclear whom the GOP will nominate next and whether any Republican candidate can secure the votes needed to become speaker. The House has been leaderless for well over two weeks now, with no clear path to end the impasse as Congress faces a deadline to avoid a government shutdown and the White House calls for urgent security assistance for Israel.

Jordan had insisted on remaining in the race despite failing repeatedly to secure the gavel as support for his bid eroded further with each consecutive House vote. On Friday, 25 Republicans voted against Jordan, who boasts the support of former President Donald Trump. Twenty-two voted against him in the previous vote.

Republicans subsequently met behind closed doors to reconsider Jordan’s nomination after his failure on the House floor. GOP lawmakers ditched him in what amounted to a no-confidence vote.

Republicans will now go home for the weekend and reconvene Monday, when they will meet for a candidate forum at 6:30 p.m. ET. They will then aim for a GOP conference vote at 9 a.m. Tuesday, with the intention of having a floor vote as soon as that same day, according to interim Speaker Patrick McHenry, R-N.C.

Before losing the nomination, Jordan had sought to keep pushing into the weekend. He alluded to the 15 rounds of voting that former Speaker Kevin McCarthy needed before securing the gavel.

“There’s been multiple rounds of…