Conservative Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio is bringing the House back to the floor Tuesday to vote on whether he will succeed ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy and finally end the chamber’s prolonged paralysis amid deep GOP divisions.
Jordan picked up key support from holdouts heading into Tuesday’s vote, which comes two weeks after McCarthy’s historic ousting, and his allies are bullish that the Ohio Republican can corral the 217 votes he needs to be elected speaker. But it’s not clear whether Jordan can be the one who unifies the fractured House Republican conference, with some lawmakers still opposed.
That’s because Jordan can only afford to lose four Republicans to be elected speaker, which requires a majority of the full House. The slim margin is what led to McCarthy’s removal at the hands of a band of eight GOP rebels – and a small group of House Republicans unhappy with Jordan could block his ascension, too.
But Jordan and his allies have made significant headway over the past several days, with the Ohio Republican pitching skeptical lawmakers one on one – and his allies outside Congress attacking the holdouts and threatening political consequences if they stand against a favorite of the Trump-aligned GOP base.
“We need to get a speaker tomorrow,” Jordan said Monday after leaving a closed-door GOP conference meeting. “The American people deserve to have their Congress, their House representatives, working. And you can’t have that happen until you get a speaker.”
Jordan’s allies believe the number of GOP opponents has shrunk from the 55 who voted Friday against supporting him on the floor to a number in the teens. One GOP lawmaker suggested the remaining detractors totaled fewer than 10.
On Monday, several key holdouts said they would support Jordan, including Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri, who had previously called…
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