House Republicans have picked Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan as their new speaker nominee Friday, but more than 50 Republicans voted against supporting him on the House floor – leaving the party still in disarray as it has been unable to elect a speaker in the 10 days since the historic ouster of Kevin McCarthy.
Jordan sent the conference home for the weekend following Friday’s party votes, and lawmakers said he planned to use the time to speak with his opponents and try to win them over.
Jordan is facing stiff resistance to be elected speaker on the floor thanks to the same math problem that doomed the bid of Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who initially won the GOP speaker nomination but dropped out of the race abruptly Thursday evening after facing a hardened bloc of opposition.
By failing to coalesce behind a candidate, the GOP conference has plunged the House into uncharted territory and effectively frozen the chamber at a time when major international and domestic crises loom, from Israel’s war against Hamas to a potential government shutdown in mid-November.
Jordan or any other Republican speaker candidate can only afford to lose four GOP votes when the House votes for speaker, if all members are voting, because winning a speaker vote requires a majority of the full House.
Jordan’s backers expressed confidence he still could get there, but the Ohio Republican faces a major uphill climb.
The House GOP conference selected Jordan on Friday as its latest speaker-designee in a 124-81 vote over GOP Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia – who made a surprise last-minute bid. Jordan gained only 25 supporters compared to Wednesday’s vote when Scalise defeated Jordan, 113-99.
Jordan then called a second vote asking members if they would support him on the floor, in an effort to see if that could shrink his opposition. That vote, which was cast…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply