Loud murmurs arose after each of the votes for an alternative speaker, and were especially loud after Diaz-Balart cast a potentially decisive fourth vote against Jordan. Jordan has now lost well over the three GOP votes he could spare in his quest to become House speaker. The votes against Jordan for House speaker are looking to be more than his allies were expecting. The Jordan holdouts are a mix of pragmatists, ranging from seasoned legislators and committee chairs worried about governing to newer lawmakers from districts where their voters back home prefer President Joe Biden to former President Donald Trump. The Ohio congressman did even worse than Kevin McCarthy did on the first balloting of his election back in January. It takes a majority of the votes from House members who are present and voting.
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Jim Jordan loses even more support on third House speaker vote - Axios
Jim Jordan loses even more support on third House speaker vote.
Posted: Fri, 20 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Representative Jim Jordan, the hard-line conservative Republican from Ohio, lost support on Wednesday on his second try to become speaker, falling short again of the majority he needed to be elected. Allies of Mr. Jordan, the co-founder of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus and a close ally of former President Donald J. Trump, had initially hoped he would pick up momentum on the second vote. Instead, the number of Republicans refusing to back him grew by two on Wednesday. Mr. Jordan won 199 votes and Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader, won 212 votes.
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A number of the holdouts have expressed their outrage at the hardball tactics employed by Jordan’s allies to win over their votes, which has devolved into harassing calls and even death threats against lawmakers and their families. After Scalise dropped out of the race and Jordan went on to become the nominee last week, Scalise immediately committed to voting for Jordan and encouraged his supporters to do the same. But, Scalise rebuffed a request from Jordan to give a nominating speech on the floor on Tuesday. And after Jordan failed to secure the speakership on the first ballot, Scalise was noncommittal about helping Jordan further, a source added. The House is now in its third week without a leader as Republicans' path forward remained unclear.
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Hours before a floor vote, one of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s most loyal supporters threw his support behind Jordan after days of hesitation. But a Jordan speakership would also come with baggage that could present a challenge to Republicans as they labor to hold their House majority in next year’s election, an effort that will likely hinge on drawing support from moderate voters in swing districts. For now, it denies Jordan the speaker’s gavel, but votes can still be changed while the roll is being called.
With 25 Republicans declining to offer their support, Jordan lost the support of three additional Republicans, marking his greatest defeat to date. Tuesday saw Jordan lose the speakership by 22 votes, and on Monday, he missed out on the gavel by 20 votes. It is highly improbable that any Republicans would defect and vote for Mr. Jeffries, handing the speaker’s gavel to the leader of the opposing party.
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The California Democrat was the first female speaker of the House and was known for her ability to coalesce her members behind her. She famously never took a vote to the floor without knowing what the outcome would be. After being rejected on the first ballot for House speaker, Jordan said he was “not really” surprised at the tally and expected to do better in the next round, possibly later Tuesday. Twenty Republicans voted for alternatives to Jordan on Tuesday, and he must pick up most of those to reach the 217 majority threshold. Multiple members said they opposed the idea of giving McHenry more power as the speaker drama plays out, with several telling CBS News that the proposal "is dead" and "will not come to the floor." But Jordan seemed to suggest Wednesday after he lost the second ballot that it was just a matter of time — possibly months — before his numbers turned around.
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In a press conference Friday morning, two hours before the third ballot for speaker, Jordan said the House needs to be open to "get to work for the American people." The Ohio Republican signaled he is not dropping out of the race. It remains to be seen how Jordan will respond to his recent loss and whether a third vote will be his last attempt at the speakership. To this point, leadership has obliged his desire to remain in the running, and the Republican Party does not yet seem ready to defy the desires of hard right members by following the wishes of moderates to empower McHenry and return to legislating. At the Urbana Brewing Company on Tuesday, patrons gave Mr. Jordan passing marks.
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Neither man was in the running, however, so voting for them merely had the effect of denying Jordan that vote. Minutes into the vote, Jordan's candidacy was already in peril as a string of Republicans surprised their caucus by voting against the Ohio lawmaker. Jordan ultimately fell short by 20 votes, a higher number than many in the conference had predicted ahead of the vote. House of Representatives failed in a first vote Tuesday, raising the prospect that the Ohio Republican could keep trying with multiple ballots.
GOP Rep. Ken Buck, who opposed Jordan in both ballots, predicted that Jordan "bleeds three or four votes" if there are more rounds of voting ahead. "More and more members are going to be able to say, 'I voted for him the first two times, now we have to move on,'" Buck told CBS News' Major Garrett Wednesday on "The Takeout" podcast. The first order of House business as the 118th Congress convenes is the selection of a new speaker, but McCarthy is being stonewalled by a group of conservative hardliners. Because the GOP holds only a narrow majority, those hardliners hold more influence in the conference and have already denied McCarthy the votes necessary to secure the gavel on initial rounds of balloting. Members also reported receiving death threats and outside pressure to vote for Jordan, a position that has only hardened their opposition to him. “The last thing you want to do is try to intimidate or pressure me, because then I close out entirely,” Mario Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican who opposes Jordan, told reporters earlier this week.
He has said he wants Jordan to clearly state that Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election. The House went into recess shortly Tuesday afternoon after Jordan lost the first round of voting to become the chamber’s leader. Leading up to the vote, some Republicans were resentful of the pressure put on them by Jordan’s allies and complained they were being threatened with primary opponents if they didn’t support him as speaker. In all, 212 Democrats voted unanimously for their House leader, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, while 200 Republicans voted for Jordan and 20 for someone else.
"Until we get a speaker — we've got to have a speaker — and it can't be some deal with the Democrats. The American people don't want that. They elected Republicans in a majority." Whether a third round would change any votes in Jordan’s favor seemed unlikely Wednesday afternoon. Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), who twice voted for Scalise, told reporters that more Jordan supporters were “certain” to defect if a third floor vote were called. After three failed votes in which Jordan saw his opposition widen, additional rounds of balloting were not expected to break the impasse.
Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the majority whip, has been floated as a speaker candidate and even received a handful of votes on the floor. When asked Friday afternoon if he were getting into the race, he replied, "Too soon." Those moderate lawmakers normally seek compromise, and the bet was that they would want to quickly patch over Republican divisions and move forward to get the House working again in regular order. The House adjourned Tuesday after McCarthy failed to secure enough votes after three rounds of voting on the speakership. The bitter feud over Jordan’s speakership bid has pitted an assorted coalition of political moderates and institutional pragmatists against the pugnacious chair of the judiciary committee.
Jordan vowed to continue to work to attract support, and gave no indication that he plans to drop out. The House went into recess indefinitely once the vote was over, and later adjourned until noon on Thursday. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Rep. Jim Jordan just met, with Jordan asking for Scalise’s help in the speaker race. Jeffries also said that conversations between senior Democrats and Republicans have “accelerated” in recent days and that it’s his hope they will continue to do so tonight. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., a first-term member, said that after having several conversations with Jordan, he’s decided to vote for him on the floor. Jordan’s journey to the cusp of House speakership would have once seemed far-fetched.
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