Republicans chose Rep. Jim Jordan They emerged as the new nominees for House speaker during an internal vote on Friday, placing the gavel in the hands of staunch allies of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump.
Ohio State’s Jordan will now work to unite colleagues from deep Republican majority in House of Representatives Discussions surrounding his bid preceded a live vote that could be delayed until next week.
Frustrated House Republicans have been fiercely debating who they should choose to replace the House Speaker they ousted. Kevin McCarthy, and the future direction of their party. The impasse has now entered its second week, with the House in disarray and all other business at a standstill.
“I think Jordan will do a great job,” McCarthy said before the vote. “We have to get this back on track.”
Attention quickly turned to Jordan, chairman of the Judiciary Committee and founder of the hardline Freedom Caucus, as the next potential nominee after majority leader Steve Scalise When it became clear that the boycotters would refuse to support him, he abruptly ended his bid.
But not all Republicans want to see Jordan serve as speaker, second in line to the presidency. Overwhelmed, exhausted and anxious, Republican lawmakers fear their majority in the House is being squandered by endless rounds of infighting, and some don’t want to reward the Jordanites who started the riots.
“If we’re going to be the majority party, we have to act like the majority party,” said Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., who issued a final challenge to Jordan.
While Jordan, the firebrand, has a long list of critics who have begun speaking out, Jordan’s supporters say it will be more difficult to vote against Trump allies in public House votes because he is so popular among more conservative Republican voters and well-known.
“I feel really good,” Jordan said during a morning meeting.
Other potential speaker options are also emerging. Some Republicans have proposed simply awarding appointee Rep. Patrick McHenry interim spokespersonmore power to lead the House of Representatives for a period of time.
During times of turmoil in the United States and war abroad, the House of Representatives was essentially unable to function without a Speaker. Republicans face growing political pressure to reverse course, reassert majority control and govern in Congress.
“Not everyone is there”
With the House narrowly divided 221 to 212, with two vacancies remaining, any nominee would likely lose some Republicans and then fall short of the 217 majority needed to oppose Democratic opposition, which is sure to support its own leader New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries.
Weekend absences could lower the required majority threshold, which Republicans said they were down by about a dozen members as of midday Friday. Due to reduced attendance heading into the weekend, no in-person voting was scheduled.
Announcing his decision to withdraw from the nomination Thursday night, Scalise said the Republican majority still needed to unite and “open the House again.” But obviously not everyone was there. “
When asked if he would support Jordan, Scalise said, “It’s got to be people who are not doing it for themselves and their personal gain.”
But Jordan’s allies jumped at the opportunity for the far-right leader to seize the gavel.
“Make him the speaker. Do it tonight,” said Rep. Jim Banks, R-Indiana. “He is the only one who can unite our party.”
Jordan also received an important endorsement Friday from Republican campaign chairman Rep. Richard Hudson, who is trying to unify the fight.
“Removing Speaker Kevin McCarthy was a mistake,” Hudson wrote on social media. He said the party found itself at a crossroads and that Scalise was also being stymied. “We must unite around a leader.”
Jordan nominally withdrew from the game after initially losing to Scalise 113-99 in internal voting earlier this week.
Scalise has been trying to get more than 100 votes, most of them from supporters Jordan. But many hardliners, taking their cue from Trump, have begun a long fight to replace him. McCarthy after his historic dismissal.
Opponents argued that Scalise was not a better choice as majority leader, that he should focus on his health while battling cancer, and that he was not a leader they would support.
A handful of Republicans have announced they will support someone other than Jordan, McCarthy or Scalise, including former President Trump. The position of Speaker of the House does not need to be held by a member of Congress.
Trump, the early frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, repeatedly discussed Scalise’s health in a radio interview that aired Thursday.
Scalise has being diagnosed with a type of blood cancer called multiple myeloma And is undergoing treatment, but he also said he is absolutely suitable for the job of speaker.
On Friday, Rep. Tom McClintock, another California Republican, introduced a motion to reinstate McCarthy during the morning session, but the motion was shelved.
“I just told them, no, let’s not do that,” McCarthy later said. “Let’s fix this and have an election.”
The situation is not entirely different from earlier this year, when McCarthy faced a similar backlash from a variety of groups. Far-right die-hards They ultimately voted him speaker and then engineered his historic downfall.
But the math is even more daunting this time, and the problematic political dynamics will only worsen.
Angry Democrats, who have been waiting for the Republican majority to recover from McCarthy’s ouster, urged them to address the issue.
“House Democrats continue to make clear that we are ready, willing and able to find a bipartisan path forward,” including repealing the rule that allows a single member to force a vote against the speaker, Jeffries said. “But we need traditional Republicans to break away from the extremists and work with us.”
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