On Friday, Congressman Gary Palmer (R-AL06) released a statement announcing that he continues to support Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for Speaker of the House. This statement was released after Jordan was elected as the GOP nominee for Speaker by the House Republican Conference. Congressman Jerry Carl (R-AL01) also supports Jordan for Speaker of the House.
“Jim Jordan is the strong conservative voice we need to unite the Republican Conference at this time,” said Rep. Palmer. “I supported Jim in the first vote for Speaker earlier this week, again today in Conference, and will vote for him on the House floor. Jim’s record as a conservative is unquestioned, but his ability to work with all members to unite our party and get things done is what sets him apart as especially qualified to be Speaker at this critical time. Jim will continue to work to secure our border, push policies that will help American families, and will hold firm against the reckless agenda of the Biden Administration and the Democrats in Congress. I look forward to working with Speaker Jordan.”
“I voted for Jim Jordan for Speaker this past week in our Republican Conference, and I will be supporting him this week when the vote comes to the House Floor,” Rep. Carl said. “We’ve got to unite behind a conservative Speaker who can unite us and move this country forward.”
The last GOP nominee for Speaker, Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana), defeated Jordan in an earlier Conference vote but had no way of actually winning the Speaker’s position because some members on the Republican right still refused to support him in a vote of full House. The vote for Speaker is scheduled for Tuesday. Jordan will have to find some way to sway Republican moderates if he has any hope of achieving the 217 votes needed to be the next Speaker of the House.
Mindless squabbling among the Republican Conference meant that the last Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy (R-California), took 16 votes of the full House of Representatives before he was elected back in January. McCarthy was ultimately betrayed by members of his own majority who voted with House Democrats to oust him. It will be difficult for Jordan, or anybody else, to unite the whole Conference, and there is a strong possibility that the GOP will nominate someone else before the end of the week.
Whoever is ultimately elected as Speaker will still have to work with a tiny GOP majority in the House and then negotiate with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) on any legislation that gets out of Congress to President Joe Biden’s desk.
First and foremost, on that agenda is passing the 12 appropriations bills or a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded to avoid a government shutdown. As neither House of Congress has passed all 12 appropriations bills for the 2024 fiscal year that began on October 1, the nation is currently operating on a 45-day CR for the past 16 days. There are only 29 days left before a potential government shutdown, and nobody knows who the Speaker of the House will be, much less how they will address this fiscal crisis. Any budget Schumer will advance in the Senate and President Biden will sign is unlikely to be popular with conservative Republicans.
Palmer is in his fifth term representing Alabama’s Sixth Congressional District. He has already announced that he will be running again in 2024.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
