On Friday, the House of Representatives again rejected House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) in a third vote for the Speaker of the House. The third vote was his poorest performance yet as more and more GOP House members abandoned the conservative firebrand’s cause. Just hours after that vote, the Republican Conference met and, in a secret ballot, voted to no longer back Jordan as the GOP nominee for Speaker.
Jordan was never the first choice of House Republicans. Most, including Jordan himself, voted not to oust Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-California). Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) and eight disgruntled far-right House members voted with House Democrats to oust McCarthy. The Conference chose House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) over Jordan in a close conference vote. Scalise failed to get the commitment from conservatives for a viable run for Speaker. Seeing that he did not have the 217 votes needed to be elected Speaker, Scalise withdrew. Jordan defeated Rep. Austin Scott (R-Georgia) on Friday, August 13.
All six Republican Alabama House congressional delegation members supported Jordan’s failed bid for the Speaker’s gavel.
Former Speaker McCarthy endorsed Jordan and gave a floor speech Friday morning encouraging members to back him, but this failed to sway the growing anti-Jordan faction within the House Republican Caucus.
Jordan, the founding Chairman of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, struggled to convince mainstream and moderate House members to support him. On the first vote, he received just 200 votes – 17 shy of being elected Speaker. That was the closest that he would ever come.
On Thursday, Jordan announced that he had suspended his campaign for Speaker and instead would back giving the Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry (R-North Carolina) emergency powers so that the House could function until January. Opposition prevented that plan from being adopted, so Jordan resumed his campaign for Speaker late Thursday evening, leading to that doomed third vote on Friday morning.
With Jordan no longer the nominee and the GOP Conference extremely divided, the House is in something close to chaos. On Thursday, President Joe Biden asked Congress to provide $10 billion to Israel for its war with Hamas and other terror organizations and $50 billion more in emergency aid for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Moving on the aid request or passing budgets to avoid a government shutdown on November 15 is all at a standstill until House Republicans can decide on a Speaker of the House.
At this point, it appears that the next Republican nominee will not be Rep. Jordan.
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