Jim Jordan.Photo:Anna Moneymaker/Getty
Anna Moneymaker/Getty
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan lost his first round of voting for speaker of the House after Republicans could not unify behind their new conference leader.
Democrats unanimously voted for House Minority LeaderHakeem Jeffries, while 20 Republicans voted against Jordan. The holdouts include Reps. Mario Diaz Balart (who voted for former nominee Steve Scalise) and Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon, who voted for former House SpeakerKevin McCarthy.
Of the holdouts,Politicoreports that seven Republicans voted for Scalise, six voted for McCarthy and three voted for New York Rep. Lee Zeldin. California Rep. Mike Garcia, Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer, Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole and Kentucky Rep. Tom Massie each earned one vote.
House Republicans chose Jordanas the party’s nominee to replace ousted Speaker McCarthy last week, amid considerable turmoil in the party and ahead of a looming government shutdown.
Despite the failure of the first round of voting, at least some Republicans — including — are confident Jordan’s support will grow. “Jim Jordan will be a great speaker,” Trump told reporters outside a Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday, per theAssociated Press. “I think he’s going to have the votes soon, if not today, over the next day or two.”
Historically, the speaker election is a formality in which the party that controls the House easily elects its candidate to the position. But since Republicans retook the House in January, that precedent has changed.
The contentious first round of voting was a repeat of sorts of former House Speaker McCarthy’s own battle for the rolein Januarywhen he battledRepublican rebels who worked to sabotage his bidfor the speakership, preventing him from earning a majority vote until he gave in to their demands. That speaker election ultimately tookfour days and 15 rounds of voting.
Ultimately, McCarthy’s time as speaker was cut short in September when, in an unprecedented motion, he was ousted from the nation’s third-highest post followed arecall vote in which the House voted 216-210to strip the lawmaker ofhis leadership role.
After the recall vote, the House clerk announced Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina as speaker pro tempore until a permanent speaker is elected. McCarthy, 58, picked McHenry, 47, as his successor in January, Politico reported.
Jordan was first elected to Congress in 2006 and represents Ohio’s fourth district. He also is one of the founding chairmen of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. He also once challenged McCarthy for the speakership.
source: people.com
