Rep. Jim Jordan fails again to win House speaker position as colleagues seek other options

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, talks with members as the House convenes for a second day of balloting to elect a speaker, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. Former Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., looks on at right. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

By LISA MASCARO, FARNOUSH AMIRI and STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) failed again Wednesday on a second ballot to become House speaker, the hard-fighting ally of  former President Donald Trump losing support from more GOP colleagues.

Next steps were highly uncertain as angry, frustrated Republicans looked at other options. A bipartisan group of lawmakers floated an extraordinary plan — to give the interim speaker-pro-tempore, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., more power to reopen the immobilized House and temporarily conduct routine business.

What was clear was that Jordan’s path to become House speaker was almost certainly lost. He was opposed by 22 Republicans, two more than he lost in first round voting the day before.

“We’ll keep talking to members, keep working on it,” Jordan, a founding member of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, said after the vote, vowing to stay in the race.

The House came to another abrupt standstill, stuck now 15 days without a speaker — a position of power second in line to the presidency — since the sudden ouster of Kevin McCarthy.

As Republicans upset and exhausted by the infighting retreated for private conversations, hundreds of protesters, if not more, amassed outside the Capitol over the Israel-Hamas war, a stark reminder of the dangers of having the House adrift as political challenges intensify at home and abroad.

Ahead of the morning vote, Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chairman, made a plea for party unity.

“We’ve been at this two weeks,” Jordan said at the Capitol. “American people deserve to have their government functioning.”

But as the rollcall got underway, he lost more than he gained, picking up three backers but adding more detractors. No further votes were scheduled.

With Republicans in majority control of the House, 221-212, Jordan must pick up most of his GOP foes to win. Wednesday’s tally, with 199 Republicans voting for Jordan and 212 for Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, left no candidate with a clear majority, as the 22 Republicans voted for someone else.

One new Jordan opponent, Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida, explained his vote, “I think it’s time to move on.”

Bipartisan groups of lawmakers have been floating ways to operate the House by giving greater power to McHenry or another temporary speaker. The House had never ousted its speaker before McCarthy, and McHenry could tap the temporary powers that were created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks to ensure continuity of government.

The novel concept of boosting the interim speaker’s role was gaining favor with a pair of high-profile Republicans: Former GOP speakers Newt Gingrich and John Boehner.

Gingrich said while he likes Jordan, he has “no faith” the nominee can get much beyond the 200 votes he won in the first vote.

“We can’t sit around and suck our thumbs and hope the world will wait until the House Republicans get their act together,” Gingrich told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on his show.

Boehner reposted Gingrich’s views saying, “I agree,” on social media.

The two men have deep experience with the subject. Both were chased to early retirement.

“The Republicans are unable to function right now,” Jeffries said late Tuesday. “All options are on the table to end the Republican civil war,” he added Wednesday.

Jordan had relied on backing from Trump, the party’s frontrunner in the 2024 election to challenge President Joe Biden, and groups pressuring rank-and-file lawmakers for the vote, but it was not enough.

“Jim Jordan will be a great speaker,” Trump had said Tuesday said outside a courthouse in Manhattan, where he is facing business fraud charges. “I think he’s going to have the votes soon, if not today, over the next day or two.”

Jordan has been a top Trump ally, particularly during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack by the former president’s backers who were trying to overturn the 2020 election he lost to Biden. Days later, Trump awarded Jordan a Medal of Freedom.

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